Sports betting bill advances in Washington
A bill that would legalise sports betting in Washington state has passed a House committee and is headed for a vote in the full floor.
US.- Washington state may become the next state in the US to approve sports betting. This is because a sports betting bill cleared a House appropriations committee that would allow tribal casinos to offer that type of wagering.
The committee approved the bill by 25-7 on Tuesday and sent it to the House for a full vote, which needs to happen before the session ends on March 13. The proposal also needs the Senate approval and Governor Jay Inslee’s signature in order to turn into law.
Representative Strom Peterson, who is sponsoring the bill, said: “I’m hoping that we can get it on to the floor next week. I still need to talk to a lot of people about it and make everybody comfortable with it, because it is an expansion of gambling.”
Representative Drew Stokesbary, who voted in favour of sports betting in Washington state, added: “This is a reasonable middle ground. It permits adults who are responsible to engage in an activity that doesn’t harm other people. But it doesn’t make it so prevalent or so pervasive in our society that we as a legislature have to worry about the morality and ethics of that.”
The bill
The legislative piece would allow the state’s 29 tribal casinos to offer sports betting unprofessional and college sports. It would also allow bets on Olympic events and eSports. However, gambling on games involving local colleges, public or private, would still be prohibited.
