South Dakota legislative committee advances sports betting proposal

A South Dakota House panel advanced on Monday Senate Joint Resolution 501, which would put legalizing sports wagering on the 2020 general election ballot in the Legislature. The House State Affairs Committee voted to approve the resolution by a 7-5 vote.

If passed, advocates for the legislation say it would go back to the Legislation in 2021 to enact how and when sports wagering would go into effect in the state, Inforum reports.

The bill passed the Senate, 24-10, on Feb. 11. The entire House could take up the bill later this week, but the same body defeated the measure in 2019.

Sen. Bob Ewing, R-Spearfish, who is the bill’s lead sponsor, stressed that the role of the resolution is only to bring the issue to voters. South Dakota requires a constitutional amendment to expand gambling to allow sports wagering.

"If passed through, it will go right to the secretary of state’s office to be put on the ballot for everyone in our great state to vote on," Ewing testified.

Groups from the Deadwood area testified regarding their support of the legislation, and Ewing said South Dakota must compete with surrounding gaming jurisdiction as well, noting 14 other states have approved sports wagering at a state level since the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. No groups formally opposed the resolution.

"Sports wagering is doing extremely well in Iowa at this time," Ewing said. "A lot of South Dakota folks that want to participate in this are traveling over to Iowa."

Speaker of the House Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, said he didn’t believe legalizing sports wagering is in the best interest of the state’s residents. He said South Dakota already has enough legalized gambling and video lottery, and should try to restrict people from developing gambling problems.

"It could take over your life. It’s not in the best interests of the state to expand any aspects of gambling," Haugaard said. "This would certainly bring in a new clientele of people that are already interested in sports. They might not be interested in playing these other games that are authorized in Deadwood and they might see this altogether different because we’re a society that’s consumed by sports."

Rep. Tim Goodwin, R-Rapid City, said he believes that video lottery is bad for society but said that sports gambling is already happening and he’d like it to be done in the open.

"My thought process is that if they’re betting now and doing it illegally in-state or going out of state, I’m going to vote yes for this and give it up for the voters to decide and we can come back next year to massage how we’re going to manage it."

Rep. Michael Diedrich, R-Rapid City, said he has known since the Supreme Court’s ruling that South Dakota would have a chance to regulate the sports wagering and “put it above the table.” Language in the proposed amendment would put sports wagering proceeds in the Deadwood Historic Restoration and Preservation Fund, which funds grant projects throughout the state.

"With all the facts on the table, the voters should be free to make their decision one way or the other as to whether to approve it, but I think we are incumbent to give them that opportunity," Diedrich said.