Two bills that could bring legal sports betting to Oklahoma have been nudged ahead by House lawmakers, including legislation that proposes a referendum on event wagering if efforts in the state capitol fall short.
Oklahoma House Bills 1047 and 1101 were both passed by an appropriations and budget subcommittee on Monday by 5-0 votes in their favor.
H.B. 1047 would authorize sports betting in Oklahoma through Native American tribes that have gaming compacts with the state. A substitute version of the legislation was passed on Monday, the text of which was not immediately available.
Keep it simple, sponsors
Still, Republican Rep. Ken Luttrell, one of the sponsors of the legislation, noted that his fellow subcommittee members have seen this sort of bill before, as Luttrell and others have been trying to get such a measure through the legislature for the past few years.
However, Luttrell said they have met with the tribes and the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association (OIGA) and taken their suggestions, leading to a “simplified” bill that would give the tribes a lot of leeway.
“It's going to be left up to a tribe,” Luttrell explained. “A tribe can either do in-person or in-person and mobile. We're not going to tell them how to do their business or who to do their business with. We're not going to try and regulate geofencing to the traditional tribal boundaries. They're going to be free to operate their sports betting and their mobile sports betting in whatever the tribe feels is best for their customers.”
Prior to that explanation, Luttrell said they had not put out press releases or tried to publicize the legislation yet because they were waiting for surrounding states to report their various revenue figures for sports betting.
“There's a wide variation, but we think that we've come up with what is fair to the citizens of the state of Oklahoma and what is fair to the tribes,” Luttrell said. “Hopefully, we can move this across the finish line, and instead of being the 39th state to have sports betting when we should have been first, at least we'll be in the ball game and keep those Oklahoma dollars in the state of Oklahoma.”
The version of H.B. 1047 that was introduced in early January proposed a 10% tax rate for tribes offering sports betting.
But if Luttrell or others are unsuccessful in getting a sports betting bill signed into law, the Republican lawmaker is proposing an insurance policy in the form of H.B. 1101.
Do you hear the people sing?
Luttrell called it a “trigger bill” that would take effect if H.B. 1047 fails or if Gov. Kevin Stitt uses his veto on the legislation.
If that happens, and H.B. 1101 is passed, voters could be asked to approve or disapprove of the sports betting model proposed by H.B. 1047.
“It's a referendum bill,” Luttrell added. “What it will do is send a vote on sports betting to a vote of the people.”
In short, the two bills advanced by the House subcommittee aim to smooth over concerns that Oklahoma’s gaming tribes may have with sports betting and provide an opportunity for an end-run around the legislature.
Whether either bill is able to garner enough support to become law remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the Oklahoma House passed one of Luttrell's sports betting bills in 2023 (which was ultimately unsuccessful in becoming law) and could do so again.
Both H.B. 1047 and 1101 must now be passed by the House's appropriations and budget committee before they can go before the full chamber for a vote. If successful there, the legislation would then head to the Senate for further consideration.
Yet Luttrell’s is not the only vision for legal sports betting in Oklahoma that has been introduced. Sen. Dave Rader, for example, has put forward S.B. 125, which is similar to H.B. 1047.
Gov. Stitt has also pitched a competing proposal in the past that would loop in commercial operators. According to local media, Stitt's current position is that “any bill that only allows sports betting licenses for tribal entities is a no-go for the governor.”
The news never ceases some days. Now we've got Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt unveiling his plan for legal sports betting in the state:https://t.co/EqX4zzOkkz pic.twitter.com/jgUFtQuPkc
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) November 2, 2023
Oklahoma has a robust gambling industry already. There are more than 30 federally recognized tribes in the state running over 100 casinos – “these range from an annex to a gas stop to full-scale resort casinos,” OIGA notes.
Even so, the absence of regulated sportsbooks in the state makes legalization a recurring debate in the Oklahoma legislature. And, this year, that debate is set to continue.
H.B. 1101 could also let the public decide if lawmakers are unable to settle the debate themselves.
In answering a question on the bill, Luttrell cited a figure he said came from the Oklahoma Association on Problem Gambling and Gaming, which was that 61% of residents of the state gambled last year.
“That would be a pretty substantial win in any House of Representatives race,” Luttrell said. “And it's a clear indicator of the will of the people of the state of Oklahoma.”
