The new Republican speaker of the Kansas House on Monday ruled out changing a controversial sports gambling fund dedicated to attracting the Chiefs or another professional sports team.
House Speaker-elect Dan Hawkins of Wichita said he has “no interest, whatsoever” in reopening a state law passed this spring that legalized sports betting after years of protracted negotiations and lobbying. The new law places most revenue from sports betting collected by Kansas into a fund designed to act as a sweetener to lure teams into the state. But gambling revenues collected by the state have so far proven modest.
