Voters in 55 of 64 parishes approved sports betting last fall and for it to become a reality both a regulatory and tax bill must make it through the state legislature during the legislative session that begins Monday. Crowley Representative John Stefanski says his bill proposes tax revenue from sports betting be undedicated.
“While this won’t necessarily be a tremendous amount of money when you’re looking at the budget as a whole, we make sure that the majority of it is not dedicated, it gives us a lot more flexibility when times aren’t as good,” said Stefanski.
Stefanski said in the regulator bill 20 licenses will be granted to specific gaming locations where you can place your bets, like casinos.
“If you add the land base plus the racinos and then also there’s the ability for the Louisiana Lottery to have a license as well,” said Stefanski.
In addition to casinos and racetracks, Stefanski says mobile sports betting also needs to be an option for those who want to place a wager on a game.
“If you force people to just go to the casinos in order to do this, I don’t think it’s in the best interest of not only the citizens, but I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the state,” said Stefanski.
Stefanski said the bills that set the tax rate on sports betting must receive supermajority approval in both the House and the Senate for passage.
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