A lawmaker crucial to legalizing Ohio sports betting wants the tax rate set back to its original figure.
This week, the Senate Finance Committee discussed Sen. Niraj Antani’s Ohio sports betting bill, SB 190, which seeks to cut the Ohio sports betting tax rate back to 10%. Last year, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed a 20% rate, which the legislature included in the 2024-25 state budget.
“The 20% rate makes us the sixth highest out of the 38 states with sports betting,” Antani wrote in written testimony. “This puts us at a significant regional and national disadvantage.”
The Ohio legislature is meeting in a lame-duck session for the next month. Antani also introduced a bill to legalize online casinos in Ohio, but he expects it to be a conversation starter with little chance of passage.
Ohio sports betting taxes
When sports betting was legalized in the Buckeye State, the tax rate was set at 10%.
DeWine then asked to have it increased, and the legislature approved the request.
The new tax rate is expected to increase the state’s tax haul by $100 million, up to $135 million this year.
Does the tax rate bill stand a chance?
Not everyone was on board with DeWine’s hike. Rep. Bill Seitz said the Study Commission on the Future of Gaming in Ohio would find the tax rate too high.
He was correct, as the commission’s report this summer did address the tax rate. Three Republicans in the report called the tax move “premature.”
Democratic Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney said the legislature should continue to monitor how it would affect the industry.
Antani online casino push
Antani introduced an Ohio online casino bill this fall. He acknowledged to LSR that it was to kickstart the conversations and that it likely would not pass soon.
He noted that the legalization of sports betting took more than three years and approximately 30 bill iterations.
“A journey has to start somewhere,” Antani said. “We want to kickstart the process. A good group of legislators are thinking thoughtfully about this issue, but many of my colleagues haven’t had the opportunity, and I hope this will start the conversation.”
