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Kentucky legislators pass long-anticipated sports betting bill to legalize gambling

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•03/31/23
kentucky
(Photo By Encyclopaedia Britannica/UIG Via Getty Images)

The 2023 Kentucky spring legislative session saw the passing of some landmark bills this cycle, including one that might be pleasing news to sports fans across the Bluegrass State. On Thursday evening, in the wee hours of the final day of the legislative session, the Kentucky State Senate soared to victory with a 25-12 vote to pass. Now, it heads to Governor Andy Beshear’s desk, where we will have the opportunity to veto it or sign it into law. Anybody with a clue about KY politics believes Beshear will not veto it and thus pass it into law.

Cournier Journal reporter Joe Sonka was in attendance for this grand day for gamblers in Kentucky and he had a picture of how the vote went, for anyone that would like to look at that. He was also among the first to report the passing of the bill on Thursday live from the scene.

Here was his record from the moments when Kentucky state senators finally passed a bill to legalize sports gambling:

Now, this doesn’t mean Kentuckians can run out and place a bet on Saturday’s Final Four games. A bill has merely passed. The law still doesn’t go into effect until 2024 it looks like. But by next March Madness, Kentucky folks can go wild.

The bill passed the Kentucky House of Representatives earlier in the month, as it did in 2022 as well, but last year’s bill was never called for a vote by the state senate because the majority leader didn’t believe the bill had enough support to pass if they did vote. Come this spring, and the sports gambling bill made its way past the house again and headed straight for a contentious senate.

The state senators reportedly deliberated back and forth with just a few voters to try and sway them one way or another. In the end, though, the bill was prioritized by the senators who most wanted it passed and they coordinated the effort to garner just enough votes to grant sports gamblers their freedom to wager away.

It ultimately passed 25-12 as 37 total senators voted on the issue. Because it is an odd-numbered year, bills in 2023 need 60% of the state senate vote to pass as compared to 50% in even-numbered years like 2022 and 2024. No, that’s not made up; it’s an actual rule in the state of Kentucky.

Anyway, last year’s sports gambling bill simply needed a majority to pass but was never put up to vote out of the assumption it would not get the required votes. So it would’ve seemed unlikely that in 2023, when it needs 60% to pass, the senate would send it through one year after they doubted it would have had 50% support. Alas, the powers that be made it happen and with votes to spare.