Minnesota sports betting bill fails to pass as legislative session ends

Minnesota’s legislative session ended Monday without the proposal to legalise sports wagering getting a vote.

US.- With differences between House and Senate proposals, Minnesota‘s legislative session has ended with no progress on a bill to legalise sports wagering at state casinos and online. It’s the third year that legislation failed to make it through.

Both the Senate and House bills proposed legalising in-person sports betting at tribal casinos and online gaming through vendors that the tribes oversee, but the Senate proposal also allowed in-person betting at racetracks.

The House-approved bill included amendments that would raise the number of hours of counselling the state provided to impulsive gamblers and their families from 12 to 60 hours, limit advertisements for mobile sports betting and put safeguards in place including prohibiting most smartphone push notifications for sports betting apps.

The House bill also proposed direct taxes from mobile sports betting profits to regulation, addressing problem gambling, funding youth sports and other programming. The Senate bill proposed direct tax revenue into the state’s general fund. A percentage of either licensing fees or tax revenue would have gone toward Gamblers Anonymous.

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The Senate version of the sports betting bill would have allowed Canterbury Park in Shakopee and Running Aces in Columbus to offer sports betting, but the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association opposes that and governor Tim Walz had said he would not sign into law sports betting legislation not supported by the state’s tribal nations.

Pat Garofalo, an advocate of the bill, didn’t hide his frustration at the proposal’s failure. He said: ‘’There are too many legislators focused on short-term political considerations instead of thinking about what is best for the whole state.’’

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