By James Buckley
KU Statehouse Wire Service
TOPEKA – Kansans will be able to bet on sporting events through a casino or mobile platform the Kansas Lottery develops if a proposed bill moves forward.
The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee continued amending SB 23, which will allow sports betting throughout the state of Kansas for those 21 and over.
The state would keep 7.5% of the revenue on wagers placed at casinos and 10% of revenue from all online bets.
In last year’s bill, the tax rate was 6.75% for in-person bets and did not have a separate rate for online bets. Chairman Bud Estes, R-Dodge City, feels confident in the tax rate changes.
“Other states are doing those same kinds of numbers and so it should bring a little bit more money to the state treasury with the way they’re offered now compared to last year,” he said.
Although the events Kansans can bet on will be widespread, there are some limitations, including a ban on high school sports betting and greyhound races.
An amendment brought up last Wednesday by Sen. Bruce Givens, R-El Dorado, would provide $800,000 to Eureka Downs to operate and allow betting on horse races.
The bill will also include an addition of the white-collar crime trust fund. The fund will focus on investigating any criminal activity in regards to sports betting.
Coinciding with the trust fund, the committee added an amendment introduced by Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena, to start a scholarship for Kansas universities to incentivize students studying these kinds of crimes to stay in the state after graduation.
“If we’re going to have a white-collar crime fund, we need educated students to do it, and this will give our Kansas universities an opportunity to retain talent,” Hilderbrand said.
After a week of debate, the bill passed in committee and will be headed to the Senate floor. Sen. Jeff Longbine, R-Emporia, expressed confidence in the bill passing through the whole Senate.
“People realize the amount of off-shore betting, unregulated, illegal activity that may be going on,” Longbine said. “This is a way to bring that into the state in a regulated and safe environment, so I would think people would be supportive of it.”
James Buckley is a University of Kansas senior from Omaha, Neb., studying journalism.
The Eudora Times is running stories from the KU Statehouse Reporting class this semester. Reach us at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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