Yesterday, the Minnesota state Rep. Jeremy Miller met the media to discuss his proposed legislation to allow sports betting in the state.
Miller hasn’t yet introduced the bill, but he did outline the basic elements of his proposal Tuesday.
Each tribe would be issued two online betting licenses under his bill. One license would be used by the tribe and the other would enable them to enter into strategic partnerships agreements with either a state-owned racetrack facility or professional team.
Miller’s proposal would allow racetracks and teams to offer retail betting. A temporary retail license would be granted for major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl or a PGA Tourstop.
These four categories would receive equally the revenue from sports betting:
- Charitable gaming is eligible for tax relief
- Grants for youth sports
- Support for problem gambling and mental health
- Major sporting events will be brought to the state
One point of contention could be the inclusion of racetracks and sports facilities. A bill that allowed tribes to participate in sports betting passed the House last year. did not pass the Senate.
Miller addressed the topic during Miller’s Q&A and stated that not enough support exists to allow sports betting to be restricted to tribal members.
“If Democrats want to support a highly-partisan sports betting bill they have the votes. Miller stated that he doesn’t believe there is enough support from Democrats to make it happen. I believe a sports betting bill must have bipartisan support. The bill I’m currently working on is actually based on the House version last year, with some of the changes we discussed today.
Miller argued that the bill was designed to allow tribes and tracks to work together to provide mobile betting.
Miller noted that the bill was still in its early stages and he hasn’t spoken to many lawmakers about their support.
It was a Democrat, Rep. Zack Stephenson who led the bill for tribal-only. Miller stated the following when he was asked about his efforts:
He stated that Minnesotans deserve to be able to legally and safely wager on sports like residents of more than 30 other states. “I believe 2023 will be the year that we accomplish this task.
