Kentucky DFS Bill Voted Down

In a bit of a surprising move, House Bill 414 in Kentucky didn’t get enough votes to advance to the Senate. The bill received 37 yes votes compared to 36 no votes, but fell short of the 40 vote requirement. Bills in Kentucky need two-fifths of the 100 House members to move to the Senate. That means there were 27 House members who didn’t vote on the bill.

The bill advanced through committee on two separate occasions before falling in the House on Wednesday. The move is surprising due to Kentucky’s stake in online horse race betting.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Adam Koenig, who told WAVE3, “The Attorney General of New York one day just declared it illegal in New York, and we don’t want that to happen here. We wanted to be a legislative solution. We didn’t think that was going to happen, but it was better off to do it this way and to make sure it’s legal.”

The legality question hasn’t been a problem for Kentucky residents. The largest DFS sites accept players from the state. Koenig was basically looking for confirmation of its legality.

It was much better for the Daily Fantasy Sports sites in Georgia, where the tally was 126-32 in favor of House Bill 118. The bill regulates and taxes Daily Fantasy Sports and prohibits those under 18 from playing paid games. The bill charges a 6-percent tax and also bars college athletes from playing in paid games.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Trey Kelley, who wants DFS games declared games of skill.

Most Daily Fantasy Sports sites haven’t let legalization stop them. Even though Florida shot down a bill last year, that hasn’t stopped sites from accepting their players. There are only 10 sites the two largest DFS sites don’t accept players from, such as Nevada, Hawaii, Iowa and Louisiana.