The Mississippi House of Representatives is taking an unconventional route to keeping legislation alive that would give those 21 and older the ability to legally bet on sporting events from their mobile devices. However, those efforts may ultimately wind up being an exercise in futility.
On Tuesday, the Senate Gaming Committee neglected to pick up House Bill 1302, or the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, allowing the legislation to be killed by deadline. To keep the spirit of the bill alive, the House Gaming Committee gutted Senate Bills 2381 and 2510 and inserted the exact language of their bill into both.
The ongoing feud between the two chambers remains alive for another round of infighting. Two years ago, the legislature passed a bill creating a study committee to assess the potential impact of mobile sports betting in Mississippi. Last year, the House voted overwhelmingly to let folks place wagers on athletic competitions from their devices, but the Senate railroaded the decision by its counterpart.
Back in early February of this year, lawmakers in the House passed the bill legalizing mobile sports betting in an 82-10 vote, and according to the legislation’s author, Saucier Republican Rep. Casey Eure, concessions were made to meet demands made by the Senate.
Nonetheless, Jackson Democrat Sen. David Blount, who chairs his chamber’s gaming committee, refuses to budge on his stance that mobile sports betting would not benefit the Magnolia State. Blount has not been convinced that the state’s existing gaming industry would not take a hit if people could gamble from their mobile devices instead of visiting a casino.
“The reason we have gaming in Mississippi is to encourage investment, to create jobs, and to grow tourism to bring other people from other places to Mississippi. Mobile sports betting doesn’t do that,” Blount said. “Mobile sports betting is in a lot of states, and a lot of people want to do that. I respect that, but it is a different product than the product that we already have.”
Keeping the current gaming industry in mind, the Mobile Sports Wagering Act’s