In a bit of a surprise for the 2023 legislative session, Kentucky lawmakers have approved a bill that will allow wagering on sports in the state.
Based on numerous posts on Twitter by media and lawmakers documenting the final vote, the Kentucky Senate approved a sports wagering bill by a 25-12 margin. In the Senate the bill had widespread support from Democrats and found enough support from Republicans. The bill, House Bill 551, had passed the House by a 63-34 margin on March 15.
Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is expected to sign the legislation into law.
In a Tweet noting the sports wagering bill's passage, Rep. Tina Bojanowski, a Democrat from Louisville, said, "This has been the single-most requested legislation by my constituents."
Kentucky Sen. Damon Thayer (Republican, Georgetown) helped garner needed support on his side of the aisle.
The legislation will legalize gambling on live professional and amateur sporting events. It will require online gaming providers to associate with a Kentucky racetrack with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission serving as regulator. Wagers could be placed at a licensed facility or online through a website or mobile app.
The Kentucky Equine Education Project, which advocates for horse racing and horses of all breeds in the state, supported House Bill 551. In an email to supporters earlier this month, it noted that legal sports wagering can provide a boost for tracks.
"KEEP and Kentucky's horse industry have been actively involved for the past several years in advocating sports wagering legislation that protects the role of Kentucky's signature industry in the landscape of wagering options and provides new revenue for the state," KEEP wrote. "HB 551 accomplishes this by allowing for sports wagering to be offered in-person at Kentucky's racetracks. Additionally, sports wagering will be governed by the KHRC, a testament to the trust that wagerers place in Kentucky's horse industry.
"Overall, this bill will benefit Kentucky's horse industry and community by offering new revenue sources for the industry, as well as attracting new fans to the sport through the in-person experiences at Kentucky racetracks."
Kentucky is nearly completely surrounded by states that allow sports betting: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia all allow sports betting.
In a letter in which KEEP called on supporters to send to legislators, it noted, "Sports wagering is legal all across the country, including in all but one of our neighboring states. This bill will allow Kentucky to capture and regulate this practice and provide additional revenue to the state."
It's been a strong session for Kentucky horse racing and KEEP. Earlier in the session KEEP applauded legislation that will ban so-called "gray machines," that had cropped up at gas stations and convenience stores that presented a potential threat to the legal and regulated historical horse racing games that have helped boost Kentucky purses in recent years.
KEEP, along with many other organizations, worked closely with legislators to ensure that they understood the negative impact of illegal gray machines on families, communities, and on Kentucky's legal forms of gaming.
"KEEP will continue working on behalf of Kentucky's entire horse industry and community to advocate for policies that benefit everyone within the industry's economic ecosystem," it said after the legislation passed banning gray machines. "Growing the success of the industry's more than 60,000 jobs and $6.5 billion economic impact on the state benefits all Kentuckians."
