The South Carolina’s lawmakers from the Democratic party have shared their hopes that sports betting is to be officially legalised in the state some day. Still, they have shared that it would be too risky for the representatives of the Republican party to make the amendment over the current legislative session.
According to a new report that was released last week, South Carolina was considered one of the eighteen states that have been considering whether to make sports betting legal over the current session, or not. To date, sports betting bills have already been passed by the states of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, while new pieces of sports betting legislation have been proposed in Kentucky and Indiana.
The state Representative Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews shared that for the time being, the likelihood of passing a gambling bill in South Carolina is not very big. Mr. Ott explained that considering the fact that 2018 is an election year, the chances of making a change in the local sports betting legislation remain relatively low, especially with a prevailing number of Republicans among local legislators. Still, Russell Ott shared his hopes that a possible gambling bill would be still talked about.
It was in 2017 when Mr. Ott backed the House Bill 3102 as sponsor, along with his fellow Democrat and House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford. The piece of legislation was looking to make gambling legal in the state, including betting horse races, professional sports and games of chance offered on electronic and gaming tables in some parts of the state. The bill would also see card and dice games which are considered games of skill become legal in the state of South Carolina.
Unfortunately, the latest gambling bill rolled out in South Carolina, was not backed by the Governor of the state Henry McMaster. The Governor’s spokesman Brian Symmes called the bill inconsistent, saying that it did not correspond to the beliefs of the residents of South Carolina.
More US States Oriented towards Sports Betting Legislation
According to the boutique research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming that presented a new report on the matter at the beginning of the month, eighteen states have been predicted to roll out sports betting-oriented bills in 2018, with eleven of them actually having a good chance to see the pieces of legislation progress further.
According to the research agency, these numbers only show the minimum, with the firm making a prediction that over 30 states could actually introduce sports betting bills.
In order for sports betting to be made legal, a change in the state’s constitution would be necessary. Back in 2000 a state lottery was given the nod by local voters, under the condition that the proceeds from the lottery would be used for education. Then, in 2001, the local Legislature passed a piece of legislation that was aimed at clearing out more details around gambling in the state.
The research results were unveiled at a time when the US Supreme Court was still considering the New Jersey case, seeking to see the sports betting ban imposed in the US lifted in four states, including Montana, Delaware, Oregon and Nevada.
- Author
Daniel Williams
