The stage is set for a "battle over how to regulate sports betting in Ohio," with the state House "proposing a system run by the Ohio Lottery Commission and the Senate preferring to let the Ohio Casino Control Commission handle the latest gambling expansion," according to Jim Siegel of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. A House bill introduced yesterday would "place sports betting under the Lottery Commission." The proposal would "require a $100,000 fee, plus an annual renewal fee, on each casino and racino, while fraternal and veterans organizations would pay an annual $1,000 fee." It also would impose a 10% tax on "all sports gaming," while the Casino Control Commission, would "regulate and investigate those engaging in sports wagering." The bill would "create an 11-member Sports Gaming Advisory Board to recommend sports betting regulations to the Lottery Commission for three years." The Senate bill, introduced in March, would "instead allow the Ohio Casino Control Commission to regulate sports betting." Ohio state Sen. John Eklund, the bill's sponsor, said that it is a "better fit" than the House measure. Under Eklund's bill, casinos and racinos "would pay an initial $10,000 fee, plus $100,000 every five years after." Operators would pay a 6.25% tax on "gross income from the wagers" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 4/10).
ONE STEP CLOSER: In Raleigh, Will Doran reports the North Carolina state Senate yesterday "overwhelmingly passed" a bill that would "allow casinos run by Native American tribes to offer betting on college and professional sports, as well as horse racing." The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, whose two Western North Carolina casinos are the "only ones in the state for now, would stand to benefit greatly." The proposal for would "limit sports betting to tribal casinos, and not allow it anywhere else in the state." The bill will now go to the N.C. House of Representatives and, "if it passes there, to Gov. Roy Cooper to sign or veto" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 4/10).
