Renewed Push For Online Gambling In U.S.
Added: Feb. 23, 2015
This time, the action is showing up in the halls of the state legislature of Minnesota. Yes, Minnesota, not exactly the hotbed of online gambling or sports betting activity. All the same, a forward thinking state Representative is coming on strong and making a stand for her cause, a change in the law that she believes is way past due to be approved.
Here is what this all about. The state legislator who is making this stand is none other than State Representative Phyliss Kahn. If you do not hail from the state of Minnesota you may not be so familiar with her name. Suffice it to say that Representative Kahn, who has been in office quite a while, as far back as 1973 to be exact, is not just some ordinary politician. No indeed. It turns out that Kahn is not afraid to take on a controversial issue. Despite what her critics may say, Kahn is not afraid to put up a fight for a cause she believes in.
This time around, Kahn has introduced a new bill that aims to legalize sports betting throughout Minnesota. Now truth be told, Kahn admits candidly she is none too hopeful. This stance is most likely due to her past experience introducing this sort of legislation. You see, Representative Kahn introduced a similar bill just last year only to watch it wither and die.
However, on this go around through the legislative process, Kahn is crossing her fingers and hoping for the best. After all, as she is quick to point out, the state has already agreed in principle to expand pull tab gambling. The move to expand pull tab gambling was put in place in order to provide a means to pay for the new stadium for the Vikings franchise.
According to early reports, Kahn’s bill at this point is only about legalizing wagers on sporting events. No word on whether that is limited to wagers on the professionals such as the NBA, the NHL, major baseball and the like. All the same, Kahn is coming out strong to support her bill.
In an interview she conducted with a local news station Kahn issued a quote about the money already being spent. According to her numbers, the residents of Minnesota already spend an incredible $1Billion a year on what is loosely referred to as charitable gaming.
Kahn goes on to say that her bill is but the first step forward. If her fellow legislators can come to terms and approve this bill, she sees the next step as challenging the federal ban on so called Internet Gambling.
Bottom line: incredibly, despite a lack of leadership on this issue at the federal level, some state representatives are boldly pushing the cause for online gambling legalization.