Any invoice being labored over by a joint legislative committee on sports activities betting wants to incorporate faculty video games in case you actually wish to stop drawback gamblers from getting themselves into bother, the Speaker warns.
“There is no bookie that I know that will check you into a rehab to help you beat your gambling addiction,” House Speaker Ron Mariano stated Thursday. “There is no bookie in the world that is going to give you an extension on what you owe because you have a gambling problem.”
Mariano was the keynote speaker on the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Forum. He spoke on a variety of matters, together with the necessity for better funding for childcare and the necessity to embrace offshore wind, however highlighted the significance of together with the faculty betting in any potential change to the state’s sports activities betting legal guidelines.
State regulation now prevents betting on sports activities — faculty or in any other case — and residents of the Commonwealth have been identified to cross the border into neighboring states the place the observe is authorized.
“According to DraftKings, 35% of all Celtics playoffs bets — which could have been me — made in New Hampshire by Massachusetts residents. A similar trend could be seen during March Madness, with 28% of bets in New Hampshire coming from residents of the Commonwealth,” Mariano informed the Chamber.
After talking, Mariano informed reporters that the state Senate’s model of the invoice, which didn’t embody sports activities betting, was too centered on controlling the supposed vice they have been legalizing, he referred to as it “paternalistic” and didn’t truly stop folks with playing issues from collaborating of their habit.
“You know, That’s why I have consistently advocated for the legalization of both professional and collegiate sports betting, and it’s why the House legislation passed last year does just that. If the legislature only acts to legalize gambling on professional sports, we will be leaving a significant portion of the industry in the hands of the black market,” he stated.
The level, he informed reporters, is that any assist supplied to gamblers shouldn’t be made accessible to these collaborating in a bootleg market.
According to Mariano there’s a lesson to be realized from previous modifications within the regulation.
“From 2019 to 2020, Massachusetts saw a steady migration of folks off the black market of marijuana, and towards the legal cannabis market,” he stated. “As we continue to see that trend increase, and having recently reached $3 billion in gross revenue, we can apply the same lessons learned to collegiate sports betting.”
Mariano additionally spoke of different proposed tax breaks attainable earlier than July 31 finish of the legislative session, particularly a rise in property tax.
Gov. Charlie Baker has proposed elevating the bar at which the tax begins to $2 million. Mariano wouldn’t set a determine, however he stated he’s open to that and different proposals.
“We’re working on something. My goal is to have something done,” he stated.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”