Louisiana residents may get to bet on both sports games and daily fantasy sports in the next year.
Lawmakers Try to Turn Two: DFS and Sports Betting
Days after sending a bill to Gov. John Bel Edward’s desk that would let state voters consider in November whether to allow sports betting in their parishes, Louisiana lawmakers established rules that would let residents bet on DFS, The Center Square reported.
The State Senate on Friday approved amendments to a House of Representatives bill that swapped in DFS language to legislation initially used to send the sports betting proposal to voters. After the Senate gave a 31-3 approval to the amended House Bill 357, it will now return to the House for approval of the changes during a special legislative session that began Monday.
Two-Year Wait for Louisiana Residents
Louisiana voters in 47 of the state’s 64 parishes approved legalizing DFS betting in 2018, but the parameters were never approved by legislators. The Center Square reported that former Sen. Danny Martiny filibustered the end of last year’s legislative session as lawmakers tried to establish tax rates and regulations because he was upset his sports betting bill wasn’t passed.
In Louisiana, voters approve certain laws on a parish-by-parish basis, so 17 parishes will not have legal DFS betting if the regulations are set. The sports betting voting will go the same way: it’s likely that most parishes will approve it, while some others will not. Gamblers won’t get to place bets until 2021, at the earliest. Like with the DFS betting, voters will consider the sports betting measure this year, but lawmakers won’t discuss tax rates and regulations until the next legislative session in 2021.
Louisiana is one of just seven states that doesn’t have legal DFS betting. The others are Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington.