Last updated on March 11th, 2020 at 12:45 pm
Missouri lawmakers have been discussing bills that will make sports betting legal in the state. However, they didn’t pass the bill. A new group of lawmakers is now looking at the future of sports wagering in the state. They are trying to find solutions to the gray areas.
Representative Wes Rogers of Kansas City told gambling news reporters that sports betting is coming to the state. It is just a question of when and how lawmakers will do it. Rogers is a member of the committee that will make recommendations on how to handle gambling in the state.
At present, its neighbors Arkansas, Iowa, and Illinois have legal sports betting. Missouri lawmakers want it. Also, casinos are lobbying for it. In addition, the committee will look at video lottery terminals.
Missouri Lawmakers Committee on Gambling
Aside from sports betting, lawmakers are also looking at legalizing video lottery terminals. The issue came up when authorities confiscated VLTs from convenience stores in Platte County. Prosecutor of the county wants lawmakers to clarify the legality of such machines in the state.
According to free sports betting odds sites, the Gaming Commission only regulates legal gambling. Besides, the Department of Public Safety can’t seize VLTs. As a result, local law enforcement officers are left in handling VLTs cases.
Lawmakers see it as a gray area. There are questions as to how to enforce state laws on VLTs. Rogers doesn’t want the machines in his district, even if there are four casinos within or near it. He told sports news sites that the machines are bad for the state.
There are calls for combining sports betting and video terminals into a single bill. However, their efforts failed to progress. Supporters told sports betting predictions reporters that lawmakers just need to make the bill clearer to gain more bipartisan support.
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