Written by Joe Sonka of the Courier-Journal
Lawmakers filed nearly a dozen “unfriendly” floor amendments last week to the bill seeking to legalize and tax sports betting in Kentucky.
Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger), the main sponsor for House Bill 137, told The Courier Journal the 11 floor amendments were all filed by Republican opponents of his legislation and expanded gambling, assuming their intent was to throw a wrench into the bill’s progress.
After passing out of a House committee by an 18-0 vote on Jan. 15, HB 137 has been passed over for a vote on the House floor every day of the legislative session.
Despite 40 co-sponsors, the near-unanimous support of House Democrats and backing from Gov. Andy Beshear, the bill is having trouble gaining majority support in that chamber’s GOP caucus, which it needs in order to get a vote on the House floor.
“This is a Republican Party caucus issue,” Koenig said. “I think it’s fair to say that if a bill has the majority support of the (Republican) caucus, it probably would get heard. We’ve got some work to do to get to that point.”
(Cross-posted via the Kentucky Press News Service. Read the rest of the article at the Courier-Journal.)
–30–