An Ohio senator is pushing back on a pair of proposals that could significantly alter the state’s sports betting market.
Sen. Bill DeMora on Tuesday criticized both the Save Ohio Sports Act, a House proposal to end online sports betting unveiled last week, and SB 199, a separate bill that would impose a 2% tax on handle. His comments came during a Senate Select Committee on Gaming meeting, which marked the first stop for the Senate bill.
The controversial online sports betting proposal not yet been formally filed, although a group backing the measure outlined it’s potential changes, which include daily betting limits, bans on props and parlays as well.
“I’m morally opposed to what the bill introduced to the House is because that’s ludicrous,” DeMora said. “No one’s going to bet if you don’t have prop bets and parlay betting. And I’m not sure those two sponsors of that bill actually know what those things are, I know our governor doesn’t know what they are, actually.”
Proposed Ohio sports betting handle tax
The tax proposal has been waiting on its first committee action since it was introduced nearly a year ago.
Sen. Louis Blessing suggested using the 2% handle tax to help pay for stadium construction in Ohio, but added that regardless of where the money goes he believes in it. He described it as Pigouvian tax in his testimony, which is intended to raise revenue and discourage bad behavior, in this case sports betting.
Ohio sportsbooks paid more than $209 million in taxes in 2025 under the state’s 20% revenue tax. A proposed 2% tax on handle would have generated roughly another $204 million based on the $10.24 billion wagered that year, after deducting federal excise tax payments.
DeMora: already raised betting taxes
The proposal would effectively doubled the Ohio sports betting tax, which lawmakers previously considered when reviewing Gov. Mike DeWine’s 2026–27 budget last year, but declined.
Blessing argued a higher tax rate would be beneficial, questioning why Ohio should aim to keep taxes low and position itself as the sports betting capital of America.
DeMora pushed back, noting the state had already doubled its rate from 10% previously, and that several many states still operate with lower tax rates.
