Louisiana Senate backs proposal to legalize sports betting

LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 02: The betting line and some of the nearly 400 proposition bets for Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos are displayed at the Race & Sports SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on February 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The newly renovated sports book has the world’s largest indoor LED video wall with 4,488 square feet of HD video screens measuring 240 feet wide and 20 feet tall. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

by: Associated Press

Posted: May 14, 2020 / 08:27 AM AST

Updated: May 14, 2020 / 08:27 AM AST

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana voters could determine on a parish-by-parish basis whether to legalize sports betting, under a bill that has won support from the state Senate.

Senators voted 29-8 Wednesday for the proposal by Republican Sen. Cameron Henry of Jefferson Parish Republican.

The bill calls for the sports betting authorization to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Voters in each parish would decide if the wagering would be allowed in their parish. The measure heads next to the House for debate. Before betting could begin, lawmakers would have to create the licensing, regulation and tax structures.

Previous efforts to legalize sports betting have failed to reach final passage.