Oklahoma Senate rejects advancement of sports betting bill

Although House Bill 1027 successfully passed in the House, the Senate has expressed the need for additional discussions with tribes, preventing the bill from advancing further.

Oklahoma’s House Bill 1027, sponsored by state representative Ken Luttrell, did not progress beyond the Senate committee before the deadline, resulting in its failure. As a result, sports betting in the state will not have an opportunity to advance for at least another year.

For the second consecutive year, state representative Ken Luttrell filed a bill, House Bill 1027, to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma. However, the bill failed to advance due to the Senate’s request for further conversations between the tribes and the governor. Despite receiving a 66-22 vote in favor in the House, the bill would have allowed tribes with existing gaming compacts with the state to conduct in-person and retail sports betting. Nevertheless, the lack of progress in the Senate means that the legalization of sports betting in Oklahoma will be delayed for at least another year.

The proposed bill, House Bill 1027, aimed to have the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission regulate sports betting, subject to the tribal nations agreeing to a tribal-state compact. Currently, around 35 tribes in Oklahoma offer various forms of gambling. Under the bill, tribal operators would have been required to pay a percentage of their gross gaming revenue based on a tiered structure. This would include 4% on the first $5 million of annual revenue, 5% on the next $5 million of gross revenue, and 6% on revenue exceeding that amount. However, despite the bill’s provisions, it failed to advance in the Senate, postponing the potential implementation of sports betting in the state.

According to House Bill 1027, if it had been enacted, 12% of the taxes generated from sports betting would have been allocated to the general revenue fund, while 88% would have been directed to the Education Reform Revolving Fund. State representative Ken Luttrell estimated that legalizing sports betting could have contributed approximately $9 million annually to the state budget. However, since the bill failed to advance in the Senate, the potential revenue from legalized sports betting will not be realized, and the state will not benefit from the proposed allocation of funds.