Missouri Legislature Sponsors Dual Sports Betting Bills
Missouri Legislature Sponsors Dual Sports Betting Bills. House Bill 581 would grant licenses to sportsbooks to offer mobile sports wagering in partnership with casinos. Bill H56 would impose a 10% tax on sportsbook revenue. The new 2023 state legislative session runs through May 12. It is the second such piece of Missouri sports betting legislation to be introduced this week. On Tuesday, Rep. Dan Houx filed a parallel sports betting measure. He had previously tried to introduce a similar bill in September, but failed.
Missouri legislators are concerned about the loss of millions in tax revenue from sports betting. The state lost millions when Kansas went live in September. Dan Houx's bill would raise the tax rate from 8% to 10%. The bill was filed on Tuesday. It would also change the amount of fees that casinos/sports teams would pay to operate sports gambling.
VLTs are unlicensed betting terminals found at fraternal organizations, veterans' organizations and truck stops. The state's 13 casinos have lobbied hard to prevent legalization or regulation of VLT's. Most of the major sportsbooks lobbied state legislators to stop any attempt to include V LT regulation as part of an effort to legalize sports betting.
