A second mobile sports betting bill in Mississippi made its way quickly through the House this week, including a tax-cutting component proponents hope will lead to passage.
The Mississippi House approved Rep Casey Eure’s Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, HB 4074, on a 100-11 vote on Wednesday. Eure introduced the bill on Tuesday, when it also quickly cleared the Ways and Means Committee.
Along with taking sports betting online after years of restricting activity to property grounds, it would decrease casino taxes from 8% to 6%.
Locally owned casinos have been key opponents to taking sports betting online in previous sessions. Mississippi was one of the first states to legalise sports betting in 2018, albeit only in person at casinos.
The House already passed another Eure measure seeking to enact online sports betting, HB 1581 earlier this year, but it has not moved in the Senate. It is the third straight year the House has passed an online sports betting bill.
After the Senate killed a House online sports betting bill last year, the lower chamber then amended a Senate sweepstakes casino prohibition bill to include online sports betting language, which killed the bill in conference committee. The Senate passed a sweepstakes casino prohibition bill again this month.
Casino support key to new MS bill
Senator David Blount, chairman of the Senate Gaming Commission, opposed mobile sports betting legislation in the past. Blount said mobile sports betting does not meet the state’s goals for legal gambling.
“The reason we have gaming in Mississippi is to encourage investment, to create jobs and to grow tourism to bring other people from other places to Mississippi,” Blount told Mississippi Media last year. “Mobile sports betting doesn’t do that.”
Blount also previously said he would not consider online sports betting legislation unless the Mississippi Gaming Commission asked for the expansion. Blount said extra revenue from sports betting is not enough of an argument to justify legalisation.
Industry sources say smaller regional casinos hold sway with lawmakers and those operators are concerned about larger gambling companies coming into the state.
The tax reduction would amount to approximately a $48 million tax cut for casinos. Eure said those savings would help the casinos stay competitive.
Mississippi sports betting legislation details
Eure’s new proposal would allow the state’s 26 casinos to partner with one online sportsbook operator. In Eure’s earlier bill, casinos could partner with up to two operators.
The bill’s 22% tax rate is an increase from the 18.5% rate on in-person sportsbooks.
Like this year’s prior bill, HB 4074 would allocate $50 million per year from sports betting for 10 years to the Public Employees Retirement System. Eure estimates the state can bring in up to $100 million annually at the proposed 22% tax rate.
“By legalising mobile sports betting, we can eliminate much of the illegal market – including protecting underage bettors – and provide real consumer safeguards in a regulated environment,” Eure said heading into the session. “This legislation will also give our brick-and-mortar casinos a new revenue stream to ensure their continued success, while the state revenue generated will help close the gap in funding for our Public Employees’ Retirement System.”
The lowered casino tax rate would replace a $6 million fund proposed in the previously passed bill to help smaller regional casinos weather negative effects of online expansion.
Pat Evans
Pat covers the legislation and regulation of online gambling in North and South America, having covered the US sports betting industry extensively since 2019.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/sports-betting/online-sports-betting/second-mississippi-house-sports-betting-bill-passes/
