A sports betting bill in Oklahoma has made it past the preliminary stages needed to go the full House Appropriations and Budget Committee, according to a report in the Tulsa World. The bill won the vote in the 59th legislature.
Cherokee citizen and Oklahoma Representative Ken Luttrell filed HB 1027, a bill that would “authorize in-person and digital sports gambling through Oklahoma’s tribal gaming compacts.” Luttrell recently proposed a similar bill that did not make it past the committee, according to a local report.
The previous bill proposed a “tiered fee structure” for the state’s tribes that would involve them “paying more of a percentage of their revenue based on how much money they take in.”
Oklahoma currently has similar stipulations in place through the model gaming compact. It was signed in 2004 and renewed in 2019.
Under the terms of the current compact, tribal nations pay the state “exclusivity fees” and use funds made from gaming to support their own education programs and elder care. Last year, tribal nations paid the state more than $166m in fees.
State Governor Kevin Stitt has shown support for legalized sports betting in Oklahoma. However, the Muscogee Nation has raised concerns and noted that some details need to be discussed and resolved.
Lutrell told the committee that the current version of the bill most likely will not be what legislation will vote on in the future, according to the Tulsa World report.
He said: “What we are seeing now will not be the final bill.”
Lutrell went on to discuss his hope for ongoing talks between the tribes and the state government and described the potential dialogue as “historic.”
He told the committee: “One thing this has done is opened the lines of communication for dialogue with the tribes.
“You all are part of a historic effort to restore our tribes’ trust in our Legislature.”
