Colorado Governor Puts His Signature on Sports Betting Bill

The Governor of the state of Colorado, Jared Polis, has finally decided to put his signature on sports betting bill, HB19-1327.

In doing so, he pushed forward the process that would legalize sports betting in the state, but now the bill will be put in front of the voters to decide if they want to legalize this form of gambling or not.

More Details on the Bill

The Colorado sports betting bill was introduced not that long ago, on April 18, to be precise…

…but it really quickly progressed and ed the approvals from both the House and Senate and now the Governor as well.

So, the only thing left is the approval from the public. The bill must go through the public vote because it will set a new kind of taxes for this type of wagering and Colorado citizens have to vote on such measures.

According to the bill, there will have to be established an official regulatory body, the Colorado Gaming Control Commission, that will have the task of regulating the sports betting sector.

All operators that would like to receive a license to offer their sports betting services in the state of Colorado…

…will have to face a tax rate of 10% on gross revenue.

Even though the exact cost of the license fees is not specifically mentioned in the bill…

…it is known that the license fees or renewal fees that should cover Commission costs of processing the application and conducting background checks should not exceed $125,000.

Different Types of Licenses

There will be three different types of license for all potential Colorado operators. That will be a master license, sports betting operator license and internet sports betting operator license.

Each and every venue out of 33 land-based casinos in Colorado will have to get a master license if they want to offer sports wagering.

Also, with this permit, they will be allowed to contract entities that are holding either of the other licenses.

Each master licensee will be allowed to collaborate with one sports betting licensee that covers land-based wagering…

…as well as one internet operator licensee.

Sports Betting Revenue

As stated in the bill, all revenue coming from sports betting taxes will be deposited in the newly-established Sports Betting Fund.

The fund will be used to pay off any money that is owed to the State General Fund in order to cover the Commission’s start-up costs.

An additional 6% coming from the tax income will be transferred to the Hold Harmless Fund…

…and will be used to cover the losses of revenue incurred by colleges, cities, counties or horse racing entities as a result of legal wagering.

In addition, $130,000 will be given to the Office of Behavioural Health in the Colorado Department of Human Services for the prevention and the treatment of harm related to gambling.

Also, the rest of the money would be used for the Colorado Water Plan Implementation Cash Fund.

Source:

“Colorado Governor signs sports betting bill”, Robin Harrison-Millan, igbnorthamerica.com, May 30, 2019.