The bill formerly known as the Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act is nearly through the state Senate, setting the stage for further negotiations between lawmakers over the possible legalization of online betting throughout the state.
House Bill 774 was passed by the Mississippi Senate on Tuesday by a 36-15 in favor, with one senator voting present.
A motion to reconsider was then entered but the legislation was not taken up by senators when the chamber considered similar motions on Wednesday. The reconsideration motion could be addressed Thursday to get H.B. 774 over the finish line.
The Senate initially approved the bill with the amendments made by the chamber's gaming committee earlier this month, which essentially removed all of the mobile sports wagering provisions from the legislation.
Before those amendments, H.B. 774 proposed online wagering on sports and horse racing statewide via operators partnered with brick-and-mortar casinos.
To go forward you must go back
Mississippi has nearly 30 commercial and tribal casinos that offer in-person sports betting and pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing, and at some facilities mobile apps can be used while a player is on the property. For example, Caesars Sportsbook-owner Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced on Wednesday that the app can accept mobile bets when a user is present at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi.
However, no statewide mobile option is legal for sports betting and pari-mutuel wagering, which H.B. 774 sought to remedy.
The bill was introduced in late January and passed the House of Representatives in early February before being transmitted to the Senate. The legislation was referred to the Senate Gaming Committee in late February but then sat motionless until last week, when senators voted to amend the legislation in a way that stripped all the mobile sports wagering components from the measure.
While that may strike some observers as a negative sign, the committee’s decision was instead aimed at keeping the debate about the legalization of online sports betting in Mississippi alive in the legislature. H.B. 774 was reported out of committee on the last possible day and ahead of the April 11 deadline for the legislation to pass the Senate.
H.B. 774 was then passed as amended by the Senate on Tuesday before being set aside for reconsideration.
Well, I'll be damned: mobile sports betting legislation is making progress again in Mississippi pic.twitter.com/rLHufwHZK9
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) April 2, 2024
Barring a change in course, the overhaul of H.B. 774 means the House could reject any version passed by the Senate and require a conference committee to be appointed to try to resolve the differences between the two chambers. Only when both houses have approved the conference committee report can the bill head to the governor's desk for a signature.
In the meantime, the talks between lawmakers are ongoing, with less than a month to go before the Mississippi legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 5.
There is no guarantee the bill progresses any further or has its mobile sports betting provisions reinserted, but at least those negotiations are taking place, which means there is still a chance.
"There are a lot of issues that we need to consider from the perspective of the industry and also from the perspective of the consumer," Sen. David Blount said during a brief committee meeting last week. "But in the meantime, we certainly don't want to stop people from listening to each other and working."
