Minnesota’s senate tax committee has voted to double the proposed tax rate from 10% to 20% in a bill that would allow for legal statewide mobile sports betting.
The bill, SF1,949, has been through six senate committees, and is now on its way to senate finance. Should it pass out of the senate, the bill would follow a similar process in the house.
Minnesota’s legislature is set to adjourn on 20 May and there is no crossover deadline. Lawmakers have travelled this path before, passing similar legislation in the house in previous sessions, only to have it stall in the senate. A key issue is whether to give the state’s 11 tribes exclusivity for sports betting or include horse tracks. The current senate version of the bill does include the tracks, which the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association opposes. That issue was not raised in the tax committee, but is likely to come again in the future.
Governor Tim Walz has said previously that he will approve a legal sports betting bill.
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