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Posted on: January 27, 2023, 08:22h.
Last updated on: January 27, 2023, 08:22h.
A recently proposed bill would legalize online betting in New Hampshire. Revenue would allow many of the state’s students to attend community colleges for free.
The legislation, SB 104, was filed by state Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton.
The bill is expected to raise $17 million for college tuition in the first year, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported based on a state study.
Money could be applied to the purchase of class books, fees, and tuition. It would be limited to New Hampshire residents who qualify for collegiate financial aid via Federal Pell Grants guidlines.
The state’s economy would also benefit as community college graduates would get the education and training needed to meet job requirements.
“We can quickly get a skilled workforce into New Hampshire,” Lang was quoted.
The bill has some bipartisan support. Among those backing its passage is Sen. David Watters, D-Dover.
Under the bill, the state’s lottery would oversee the betting. If approved, the law would take effect on January 1, 2024. Currently, only a handful of other states allow for online betting.
But there is some opposition to the New Hampshire proposal. Concerns have been voiced about what would happen to revenue generated by the state’s 13 brick and mortar charitable casinos.
Land-based Venues at Risk
In other states, online betting has negatively impacted brick and mortar gaming venues.
We think it’s too soon to pursue another dramatic change in New Hampshire and instead we support a study of online gaming,” Peter Bragdon, who represents Churchill Downs, was quoted by the Union Leader. He is a former president of the New Hampshire state Senate.
Churchill Downs owns Chasers Poker Room in Salem, N.H. That is the largest charitable casino in New Hampshire.
New charitable casinos were proposed recently in two New Hampshire communities: Concord and Lebanon. Local officials are currently reviewing proposals.
Charitable casinos require 35% of gross revenue from the gaming property to be donated to approved charities every 10 days.
Lang also introduced the bill that legalized sports betting in the state. New Hampshire became the 14th state to launch legal sports betting in 2019.
DraftKings is New Hampshire’s solitary online and land-based sportsbook. Rebecca London, a government affairs manager for DraftKings, says Lang’s bill would benefit players who would be able to place legal bets.
By legalizing it…with the lottery, we have that regulator to ensure we have the funds to pay our customers,” London said.
Records for New Hampshire Lottery
In September, the New Hampshire Lottery reported it set a sales record of over $536.5 million during the 2022 fiscal year.
That is 3.3% more than the 2021 fiscal year previous record of $519 million.
The state’s lottery also provided a record $146.3 million for education in the 2021 fiscal year.
Since its start in 1964, the New Hampshire Lottery donated more than $2.45 billion to education.
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