New Hampshire is edging towards becoming the next US state to deliver legalized sports betting, with lawmakers predicting that the Senate will approve a sports betting bill subject to amendments.
The House has already approved House Bill 480, however the legislation still needs to be passed back to the chamber of origin for potential changes before this can be passed on to Governor Chris Sununu’s desk.
“I anticipate the House will concur with the Senate and it will pass,” said Rep. Timothy Lang, the bill’s author. “If it does go to a committee of conference, I expect they will work it out, but I honestly believe they will just concur on the House floor and be done.”
The state’s Ways and Means committee has recommended an amendment to the bill which would restrict the number of mobile operators across New Hampshire to five. The amendment is set to clarify that multiple operators will be permitted to operate in the state, following a previous drafting error in the bill which referred to a singular “agent”.
According to Lang, the bill could be amended and approved by 30 May, however this is still subject to the approval of the Senate. The state has already included $10 million from sports betting in the two-year state budget.
“I think Ways and Means is more enamored with money,” Lang said. “These are minor changes, and you’ve got to give the Senate the ability to put their fingerprint on it.”
