Kentucky lawmakers form dream team to draft sports betting bill

Kentucky lawmakers are eyeing to get a piece of the U.S. sports betting pie after the country’s highest tribunal repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, according to the Kentucky Public Radio.

The bi-partisan panel, consisting of six members of the House of Representatives and three members of the Senate, have been formed to draft and file legislation to implement legal sports betting in Kentucky.

Some of the members of the bi-partisan panel were the same lawmakers that pushed for regulation of sports betting in Kentucky in 2017. Sen. Julian Carroll was the first to propose for Kentucky to legalize the game in September 2017, but his bill didn’t make any progress in the Senate. Like Carroll, Rep. John Sims and Rep. Dean Schamore peddled the legalization of sports betting in the lower chamber but their bill remained stalled in the committee.

Based on their timeline, the nine-member legislative team has six months to study, research, and write a bill that will pave the way for betting on professional sports “and possibly some limited instances of college sports, while banning wagering on high school or below level sports.” They plan to file companion bills for each chambers during the 2019 legislative session, according to the lawmakers.