Sports betting measure is back before Missouri lawmakers

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 8:52 PM
Photo: By All-Pro Reels - h...126474/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112085011
  • Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Missouri House is poised again to take up a longshot bid to make sports betting legal in the state.

After years of failing to get a law on the books because of an ongoing impasse in the Senate, the latest push comes as Missouri’s professional sports teams and mobile gaming operators are gathering signatures to put the question directly to voters.

“I feel like it’s Groundhog Day,” said Rep. Dan Houx, a Warrensburg Republican who is sponsoring the package.

The House version, which was debated in the Special Committee on Public Policy Tuesday, would tax bets at 10%. An estimated $35 million would be generated for education.