New Hampshire casinos were rejected again

House Representatives voted down a bill to legalise New Hampshire casinos after it had already passed the Senate in March.

US.- A bill to legalise New Hampshire casinos was rejected once again. This time, the House voted 289-63 and struck down the proposal that would allow gaming venues into the state.

The bill had already passed the Senate in March and would allow two casinos to open in the state. However, the House killed the bill and even postponed it indefinitely to avoid it from coming back next year.

Same old story

Casino legalisation has been a recurrent issue in the New Hampshire Congress as Sen. Lou D’Alessandro has been pushing different bills for nearly 20 years. However, over and over again every initiative has fallen short, as it did last year when the Senate voted 11-10 against it.

“My highest level of frustration since I’ve been around here was [in 2014] when we passed this [in the Senate], we brought it over to the House, and I lost by one vote,” Sen. D’Alessandro said back then. “And that vote was cast by the [then-Deputy Speaker Naida Kaen] because it was a tie vote, so we lost the vote,” he added as he – unsuccessfully – exhorted his colleagues to vote for this year’s proposal.

Sports betting still on the table

Sports betting in New Hampshire has a strong case and may soon be legal after proposed legislation moved forward in the General Assembly. The state’s House of Representatives approved House Bill 480, which would regulate the segment, and sent it to the Senate for further discussion.

In a 269-82 vote, the House decided to approve sports betting in New Hampshire. However, the original piece of legislation was amended. Should it pass, punters would be allowed to bet on sports at retail, online and mobile venues.

New Hampshire legislators believe that sports betting has a good chance to be legalised. According to proponents of the bill pushing its regulation, Governor Chris Sununu’s support gives the motion a boost.