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In Missouri, the Senate has traditionally been where sports betting goes to die. For the third consecutive year, a bill to legalize wagering has reached the Senate floor. The question is whether or not the climate in a general assembly that has struggled mightily to find a consensus has finally changed.
In 2022, a standalone sports betting bill was killed by filibuster on the Senate floor, and in 2021, Sen. Denny Hoskins’ sports betting and a video lottery terminal (VLT) bill never got a vote. Hoskins, who has long attempted to tie legal wagering to legal VLTs, was the architect of last session’s filibuster. This time around, Hoskins’ sports betting and VLT bill didn’t get out of committee, while a package of standalone wagering bills that essentially mirror 2022 versions did. HB 556 and HB 581, which got more votes in the House in 2023 than in 2022, are now poised for their moment in the Senate.
Stakeholders say they expect legal wagering legislation, which got its first reading in the Senate on March 22, to come up for discussion in the chamber as early as Tuesday. Sources say there are enough votes to get sports betting through the Senate, where Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer has been championing the cause for several years.
But whether it even gets put to a vote is another question entirely.
Hoskins eyeing statewide office?
The key to the legislation’s success — or failure — will once again be Hoskins. While he so far has not publicly changed his stance on marrying sports betting and VLTs, other factors could cause him to have a change of heart.
In February, Hoskins posted a somewhat cryptic tweet suggesting that when he term-limits out of the Senate in 2024, he will pursue a different avenue as a public servant. The Missouri Independent wrote that Hoskins could run for secretary of state or treasurer.
His aspirations, according to a source, are well known in the state capitol of Jefferson City. Missouri currently is run by Republicans, who hold the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, attorney general, and treasurer, as well as enjoying supermajorities in the House and Senate.
I look forward to continuing my conservative fighting spirit statewide. More to come… @MissouriGOP @JacomoGOP @BooneCoMOGOP @mogop_jasper @SenateCaucus @FCRepublicanCC @MissouriSTCR @stlyrs @kansascityyrs @MissouriCR @CFGfoundation @FreedompplMO pic.twitter.com/7IKN13vGG5
— Senator Denny Hoskins, CPA (@DLHoskins) February 8, 2023
If Hoskins does have plans to run for state office, he may reconsider his position on standalone sports betting bills. Missouri is surrounded by legal sports betting states, including rival Kansas, which launched retail locations and digital platforms at the start of the 2022 NFL season, and Kentucky, which legalized digital and retail wagering last Friday. In this and previous sessions, Missouri lawmakers have lamented the number of people crossing the borders into Kansas and Illinois to bet.
Passage a definite … maybe
On Super Bowl Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, the geolocation service GeoComply logged 250,000 attempted sportsbook logins in Missouri and 2.2 million checks in Kansas, many right on the border in Kansas City.
In a state that is surrounded by others with legal wagering, Hoskins has a choice to make. Does he want to be known as the legislator who killed sports betting (again) if he is, in fact, contemplating a run for office? (Hoskins did not respond to Sports Handle inquiries on this topic.) Should he be willing to soften his stance — whether in deference to his future or because Senate leadership is willing to horse trade on another issue that is important to Hoskins — the possibility exists that wagering could make its way through the Senate for the first time.
“I’m not saying that I would be a part of keeping it from being legalized,” Hoskins told FOX4 when asked if he’d be a reason sports betting doesn’t get passed this year. “But I think the priorities to me are making sure that we get some more funding for veterans’ homes and veterans’ cemeteries.”
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