Paul Waggoner repeatedly called the proposal a bad deal for Kansas residents. And that’s after the New York Times called out the Legislature for bowing to sports betting lobbyists who swarmed Topeka to get a legalization law enacted.
But they showed little appetite for it in Topeka this spring after the law went into effect almost a year ago. Legislators could change that by amending the law. Instead, the vast majority of the dollars are placed in a fund aimed at attracting a sports team to the state - a concept that the fund would never realistically be able to afford.Ī majority of state lawmakers - both Republicans and Democrats - legalized sports betting with caveats that heavily favor casinos and online sports betting apps but lack quality safety nets from the harm it has on some Kansans. What’s more, programs dedicated to supporting bettors with gambling addiction only get peanuts from that revenue. The new sports betting industry also makes hardly any revenue for the state, amounting to a small drop in the bucket of the state’s multi-billion dollar operating budget. Kansas taxpayers subsidize the millions of dollars nationwide sports gambling apps hand out to bettors for their initial wagers that get them in the habit of gambling.
