The 2024 Minnesota legislative session doesn’t end until mid-May. However, if Minnesotans hope to bet on sports soon, the end of this week is just as important.
For a bill to become law, legislation needs to pass both chambers and the governor needs to sign it.
Before the bill goes up for a floor vote, several committees must pass the bill.
The deadline for passing non-fiscal committees was in March. But two Minnesota sports betting bills are in fiscal committees. Friday, April 19 is the deadline to pass pending legislation in fiscal committees.
Two bills, House File 2000 and Senate File 1949, are still awaiting a final hearing in a fiscal committee. The other two, Senate Files 5330 and 3803, have bleak futures.
Two Minnesota sports betting bills might make the cut, 2 others appear dead
HF 2000
HF 2000 resides in the Taxes Committee. It needs to pass out of this committee this week in order for anything to happen this year.
Tribes would have full exclusivity for retail and online sports betting under Rep. Zack Stephenson‘s bill. Sports betting revenue would be taxed at 10%.
Some tax revenue would fund problem gambling programs and go toward Minnesota’s youth sports programs.
SF 1949
SF 1949 is in the Finance Committee’s hands. There needs to be a vote this week for it to advance.
State Sen. Matt Klein sponsors the bill. Recently, Sen. Jeremy Miller joined the effort to push the bill to passage. SF 1949 would also give tribes full control of the industry and allow them to partner with online sportsbook operators.
Like in HF 2000, there was originally a 10% tax on sports betting revenue, but it was only for online operators. There is not a specific tax rate included for brick-and-mortar operators.
Since its introduction, the bill has been amended to ban in-game betting. It’s estimated that not allowing in-game betting could cost the state at least $30 million annually. To compensate for that lost revenue, the amended version of SF 1949 changed the tax rate to 20%.
Klein’s bill was much farther along in the process than Miller’s SF 3803, so Miller announced his support for SF 1949, which basically kills his legislation.
SF 1949 is probably Minnesota’s best bet to legalize sports gambling in 2024.
SF 5330
Currently, SF 5330 is not in any committee. In other words, this bill isn’t moving this session. It would have already needed to be in a fiscal committee by this point, but it was just recently introduced.
State Sen. John Marty filed SF 5330 earlier this month. It boasts the highest tax rate out of the four sports betting bills under consideration, with the rate set at 40%. It has the highest emphasis on problem gambling, as 75% of tax dollars would go toward PG programs and services.
In-game betting is not allowed under this bill, and there are specific limits placed on customer accounts. Players could not lose more than $500 over a 24-hour period and $3,000 over a 30-day period. They would be limited to depositing no more than $500 into their accounts on a given day, and they would not be allowed to access their accounts for more than four continuous hours.
Sportsbook operators would also be banned from sending push notifications to players.
SF 3803
Also known as the Minnesota Sports Betting Act 2.0, SF 3803 sits in the Local Government and Veterans Committee. That committee is a non-fiscal committee, which means the deadline already passed.
Miller introduced this bill at the start of the current legislative session. Under SF 3803, Minnesota’s tribes would have control over both retail and online sports wagering. Tribes would also be able to partner with the state’s professional sports teams and horse racetracks. Operators would be taxed at 15%.
