FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Bill 606, which would legalize sports betting and regulate taxes on online gambling, passed a House committee Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • House Bill 606 would legalize sports betting in Kentucky 

  • Rep. Adam Koenig is the bill sponsor

  • The bill passed a House committee unanimously 

  • The Family Foundation spoke in opposition to the legislation 

Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) says polling shows most Kentuckians are on board. 

“We can just focus on what’s going forward and make sure that next year when UK and UofL are in the tournament and the Bengals are in the Super Bowl again that everyone in Kentucky can bet on them,” he told reporters, following the vote. 

In testimony before his colleagues, Koenig said the American Gaming Association estimates $2 billion is wagered illegally on sports in Kentucky each year. 

“I think it’s important to bring those people out of the shadows to dry up the black market and make sure that the people of this state have the benefits of their government protecting them,” Koenig said.

The bill passed unanimously out of committee, despite the objections of The Family Foundation. 

“We understand that any expansion of predatory gambling is essentially a transfer, doesn’t create new income, new wealth, it just transfers that predominantly from poor communities into the wealthy gambling industry,” said David Walls, the foundation’s executive director, following the vote. 

The bill moves next to the full House for a vote.

The committee also passed a bill banning so-called “gray machines” found in some convenience stores and bars, as well as a bill to set up a gambling problem assistance fund. 

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