Kansas lawmakers interested in sports betting

While no legislation has been drafted yet, it is expected that the legalisation of sports betting will be discussed in the upcoming session.

US.- The decision to strike down the PASPA Act that prevented states from offering sports betting has allowed states to start the discussion on whether they want to capitalise on it or not. Kansas is among a list of states that will discuss the modality in the upcoming session.

The recent Governor-elect Laura Kelly has already voiced her support for legalising sports betting during her campaign. While no legislation has been drafted for the upcoming session of the state, which starts on January 14, it is expected that the gambling modality will be discussed.

Senator Bud Estes, chairman of the committee that will be in charge of reviewing bills on the topic, said that sports betting will probably happen in some form, and encouraged lawmakers to participate in a special interim committee session on the topic on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We need to be educated. I’m not going to let my committee go out and pass a lot of legislation right out of the bag. We need to be smarter before we do it,” said Estes.

Representative Jan Kessinger, who introduced a bill that didn’t make it, said that he will try again in 2019. “It will generate more excitement and interest in sports, which I think will drive more traffic into these social settings,” he said and added that it will also generate more revenue and jobs. “There are a lot of different opportunities there.”