It’s one step forward, two steps back for the Kansas Legislature in its attempts to legalize Kansas sports betting.
Bill SB 84, which would make Kansas the 34th state with legal sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association, got through the House but stalled in the Senate.
The House passed the bill on a 63-50 vote after midnight on Saturday and it appeared the Senate would approve it as well. But a last-minute provision inserted in the legislation caused a spirited debate before the Senate adjourned without action at 1:30 a.m. local time.
The provision causing the derailment involves the "Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund." The stipulation would result in 80% of the revenue generated from sports betting being directed to attract professional sports teams to the state.
This enraged some politicians. Rep. Henry Helgerson blamed Gov. Laura Kelly for the added item and told the Topeka Capital-Journal that it smacked of back-room dealing.
"There's a pattern of secret deals going on in the (Kelly) administration and in Republican leadership," Helgerson said. "And they don't want to tell the rest of the Legislature and that is harmful to the system and to the state."
Chiefs rumored catalyst for fund
Talk that the Kansas City Chiefs were considering moving from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., west to somewhere in Kansas helped cause the furor.
Chiefs President Mark Donovan told reporters at the NFL owners’ meeting last week that he had been approached by developers from Kansas proposing several new stadium options in the Sunflower State.
Kelly told reporters on Thursday that she was in favor of bringing the professional team to her state, and that it didn’t violate an agreement in the so-called Border War with Missouri, a truce agreed upon by both governments to no longer use economic development subsidies to lure employers back and forth across the state line.
"When I signed the border war truce with Missouri, it didn’t include the Chiefs," Kelly said.
While some legislators opposed the "Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund," Rep. John Barker told reporters there was nothing shady about adding it to the bill at the last minute.
"It was presented by my leadership and I talked with the Senate and my ranking member and they had no objections to it," Barker said. "So we could put it in."
What's next for SB 84?
While the House passed SB 84, the Senate could not get the sports-betting legislation to the floor for a vote. Members debated the bill into the wee hours of the morning, but could not reach a consensus.
Before the "Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund" controversy, the biggest snag was what the tax rate would be for mobile and retail betting sites.
The House bill proposed a 14% tax rate on retail sites and 20% on mobile wagers. The Senate’s version imposes an 8% tax on online bets and 5.5% on retail wagers. A compromise was reached and a flat 10% tax rate was eventually agreed upon.
Legislators are now on a three-week break and the bill should be put up for a vote in the Senate when they return on April 25. If it passes, Kelly is almost certain to sign it. Officials have said they want to have sports betting in place before the start of the 2022 NFL season in September.
