An ambitious piece of legislation that aims to insert the federal government into oversight of legal sports betting is already under fire from its detractors and may face an uphill climb in an already divided Congress.
Story continues below
New York Rep. Paul Tonko and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal formally introduced the SAFE Bet Act last week, a bill that would put a blanket ban on sports betting across the U.S. unless authorized by the Department of Justice.
The proposed legislation quickly drew pushback from the gaming industry and one influential lawmaker, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, who said it was a “misguided approach” to try to pre-empt state regulators.
