California is facing a large budget deficit because of the coronavirus. It was reported weeks ago that they tried to revive a sports betting bill to place on the ballot in November.
However, the opposition from the Native American gaming tribes has been too strong. Senator Bill Dodd confirmed to Legal Sports Report that he will be pulling the bill.
“Given the deadlines for getting a measure on the November ballot and the impact of Covid-19 on the public’s ability to weigh in, we were not able to get the bill across the finish line this year,” said Dodd. “It remains important that we lift this widespread practice out of the shadows to make it safer and to generate money for the people of California. I will continue to be engaged in the issue as we work toward 2022.”
The bill was going to have to pass both legislative branches by Thursday in order to get on the November ballot. The Secretary of State did have the ability to extend that deadline, which did not happen.
If passed, it would have imposed a 10% tax on gross revenue from racetracks and tribal casinos, as well as a 15% tax on online wagers. This was estimated to generate $500 million a year.
“We have significantly diverse stakeholders that really want to be in here,” Dodd said in an interview. “Tribes, county fairs, horse racing, card rooms. Because of Covid, we couldn’t bring people together.”
The coalition of the tribal initiative said they had over 1 million signatures for a petition legalizing sports betting at tribal casinos and racetracks. They released this statement:
“We appreciate that legislators saw through the smoke and mirrors and stopped SCA 6 — the effort to break yet another agreement between California and Native American Tribes and expand Nevada-style games to cardrooms. Over one million voters have signed our petition to legalize sports wagering at racetracks and tribal casinos, and we respect their preference to authorize sports wagering in a responsible and incremental manner.”
Looking Forward Two More Years
Now, the next time that California can pass sports betting legislation will be in 2022, because it must happen during election years. They tried to push it through because of the budget crisis but failed to organize it properly.
The Indian tribes specifically opposed the bill because of the online wagering and unclear language of legality. “It was a bad bill, written without tribal input, with virtually no time remaining on the clock — it got the finish it deserved,” said tribal lobbyist David Quintana.
Quintana is hoping that next time the effort will be more inclusive, with discussion with the tribes. It appears that California will have a tough time passing sports betting without them on their side.
The tribal coalition has asked that an extension is granted in order to gather more signatures for the petition on the matter for 2022. The Supreme Court of California is set to do the hearing on July 2nd.
