House lawmakers last week again put the legalization of sports betting in the Senate’s court after overwhelmingly approving a bill that would allow that gaming activity for the second time in as many years.
“The time has come for us to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts,” said Rep. Jerald Parisella, D- Beverly, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Economic Development.
The proposal scored a blowout win in the House, posting a 156-3 victory in the 160-member body.
Now that the House has approved the measure, the focus shifts to Parisella’s Senate counterpart, Sen. Eric Lesser, whose sports betting bill has yet to make its way through the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
The Longmeadow Democrat has publicly indicated his colleagues may finally be prepared to move positively on this matter, if it meets their criteria.
Though vague on when the Senate might take up the issue, Lesser told NESN that Massachusetts “should really hope and aim to get this going by the end of the calendar year.”
“I think we’re ready. Look, it’s been three years since the Supreme Court allowed states to move forward on sports betting. Since then you went from two states — New Jersey and Nevada — that had sports betting markets to 30. And again, almost all of our neighbors in almost all the states in the Northeast now have it,” Lesser said on the regional sports network. “So it’s time. It’s time for Massachusetts to do this.”
We’re not sure what audience Lesser was trying to persuade, other than reluctant senators. It certainly isn’t the residents of the commonwealth who, if you believe a recent poll on the subject, are decidedly in favor of sports wagering.
That survey, commissioned by Encore Boston Harbor, Plainridge Park and conducted by respected pollster David A. Paleologos Associates in early June, found that 61% of Massachusetts voters would support sports betting in the state.
That positive number jumps to 72% if the funds were used to support K-12 education or welfare programs.
The most important influencer that Lesser must convince happens to be the person leading his caucus, Senate President Karen Spilka.
Senate indifference killed the bill in the last session, and Spilka doesn’t seem predisposed to make it a priority any time soon.
The Ashland Democrat recently remarked the Senate would review the sports betting proposal “as it continues its work to address the many important issues facing the Commonwealth, including COVID-19 recovery, mental health reform, and meaningful voting reforms.”
The House and Senate will probably take a summer break soon, so it’s unclear when — or if — the Senate plans to take up a sports betting bill.
But while the Senate fiddles, other states will continue to cash in on sports betting, providing added revenue, and in the process siphoning Massachusetts tax dollars.
In case it’s escaped Spilka’s attention, it should be noted that sports betting is a major nationwide growth industry. It brought in $960 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to a state Gaming Commission report.
As Lesser stated, 30 states — including neighboring Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York — all have legalized sports wagering in some form.
“We’re surrounded,” Rep. Parisella said previously. “The time has come for us to legalize sports betting.”
The Senate’s main concern — and main impediment — with any sports betting legislation appears to be ensuring the proper protections for problem gamblers.
Lesser told NESN that senators will likely concentrate on that issue and consumer protections if they debate the issue in the informal session.
We don’t see why safeguards against gambling excesses should be a sports-betting game-breaker.
Both the Senate and House obviously appreciate their need, and should be able to reach a consensus.
The professional and collegiate sports landscape continues to evolve, as the recent NCAA decision to let athletes generate performance-derived income indicates.
Senators, stop moving the goalposts and pass a sports-betting bill that the entire Legislature can support.
![It’s no surprise that corrections officers exhibit the worst health of any U.S. occupational group, with high rates of on-the-job injuries, suicide, obesity, hypertension and sleep disruption.Their life expectancy averages more than a decade less than those in other professions, according to research in multiple states.Mazen El Ghaziri, the assistant chair and associate professor at […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20140728_LS_072814_JAIL-p1.jpg?w=525 "It’s no surprise that corrections officers exhibit the worst health of any U.S. occupational group, with high rates of on-the-job injuries, suicide, obesity, hypertension and sleep disruption.Their life expectancy averages more than a decade less than those in other professions, according to research in multiple states.Mazen El Ghaziri, the assistant chair and associate professor at […]")
![We need to get serious about the housing crisis facing our communities here in the commonwealth. That means not only building more housing, but changing the way we think about it.Of all of the proposals to help alleviate our housing shortage, allowing accessory dwelling units by right is one of the simplest steps we can […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/BHR-L-HOUSING-01.jpg?w=233 "We need to get serious about the housing crisis facing our communities here in the commonwealth. That means not only building more housing, but changing the way we think about it.Of all of the proposals to help alleviate our housing shortage, allowing accessory dwelling units by right is one of the simplest steps we can […]")
![Even when she was just 11, Kira Andreucci exhibited a compassion and empathy beyond her years.Her altruistic spirit became the motivation for her launch of Karing 4 Kidz when she was just a fifth-grader at Fitchburg’s McKay Arts Academy.After she “witnessed another student going through the food recycling bin,” Kira asked for money for her […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sen-l-karing4kidz05062024-01.jpg?w=456 "Even when she was just 11, Kira Andreucci exhibited a compassion and empathy beyond her years.Her altruistic spirit became the motivation for her launch of Karing 4 Kidz when she was just a fifth-grader at Fitchburg’s McKay Arts Academy.After she “witnessed another student going through the food recycling bin,” Kira asked for money for her […]")
![When we first heard some months back about the effort behind this novel alternative therapeutic, we surmised that it would likely hit medicine’s mainstream at some point.But when it comes to the acceptance of plant-based medicines, otherwise known as psychedelics, its supporters insist that future is now.In addition to a pair of bills filed by […]](https://www.lowellsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GettyImages-1576472057.jpg?w=467 "When we first heard some months back about the effort behind this novel alternative therapeutic, we surmised that it would likely hit medicine’s mainstream at some point.But when it comes to the acceptance of plant-based medicines, otherwise known as psychedelics, its supporters insist that future is now.In addition to a pair of bills filed by […]")