Lawmakers in Louisiana continue to work on getting the sports betting industry legalized and launched in the state, and those efforts took another important step this week. There is still some work left to do, but it appears that everyone is on board to get the proper bills passed.
Senate Bill 142 was approved by the House with a vote of 94-8 on Wednesday, and it as then delivered back to the Senate. The Senate had already approved the bill on June 2, and it will vote on the new amendments before sending it to Governor John Bel Edward’s desk for signature.
SB 142 outlines how the tax revenue generated from sports betting will be dispersed throughout the state. The general fund will receive 60% of the revenue, while early childhood programs in the state will receive 25%.
House Bill 697 has already been approved and signed into law by the governor, and that was a big first step that took place in May. HB 697 gives the Louisiana Lottery the power to regulated sports betting and sets the tax rate for the industry.
Retail sports betting will be taxed at a rate of 10%, and online wagers will be taxed at 15%. The 20 casinos and racinos in Louisiana will be able to apply for a license, and each license will come with two skins.
The Louisiana Lottery will work to establish retail kiosks at all establishments that hold a Class A retail license. Convenience stores were not included in this legislation, but sports bars and restaurants could soon have these kiosks up and running.
Senate Bill 247 was passed on the final day of the legislative session in Louisiana, and that bill outlines how the industry will work and operate. This bill has not been signed by John Bel Edwards, but he is expected to do so as soon as it lands on his desk.
The work of lawmakers is mostly done in Louisiana, but now the Louisiana Lottery will have to begin accepting and reviewing sports betting license applications.
9 Parishes Vote “No”
When Louisiana placed a sports betting referendum on the ballots in November 2020, the decision was left up to each individual parish. There are 64 parishes in the state, and only 55 of them voted to approve the new industry.
This means that there are nine parishes located in Louisiana that do not support sports betting, and there won’t be any retail sports betting options established in those parishes. This mostly hurts the businesses that would like to offer sports betting and gain some additional revenue.
Louisiana took the same approach when it attempted to legalize and regulate Daily Fantasy Sports in 2018. Again, not all of the parishes in the state voted to approve DFS games, but it didn’t end up mattering for anyone as the lawmakers in the state were unable to pass legislation to launch that industry.
The DFS industry has since been legalized, and it is expected to launch around the same time as sports betting. Sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel will be able to offer both forms of betting using one single app.
