![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gaming-awards.com\/NEWS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/sportsbetting-300x168.jpg\")
The elected representatives on Tuesday decided South Dakota voters should be asked on the November ballot if they want to allow sports wagering in the historic mining town of Deadwood.<\/p>\nThe elected representatives on Tuesday decided South Dakota voters should be asked on the November ballot if they want to allow sports wagering in the historic mining town of Deadwood.<\/p>\n
The House voted 36-27 for\u00a0SJR 501. A similar effort failed in the House last year. This time, one difference was that Governor Kristi Noem didn\u2019t oppose it openly.<\/p>\n
Spearfish Republican Senator Bob Ewing carried it through the Senate again this year. Lead Republican Timothy Johns led the argument for the House to approve it Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Once voters approve, the Legislature would decide how sports betting would be done. Johns, a retired circuit judge, told House members, \u201cIt\u2019s already happening. It\u2019s been happening. This is an opportunity to regulate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal would amend the South Dakota Constitution to lift the ban on sports gambling in Deadwood. It also would apply at 8 American Indian tribes\u2019 casinos in the state.<\/p>\n
Yankton Democrat Ryan Cwach recalled the argument that Deadwood supporters made last year to block Yankton\u2019s bid to change the constitution to allow for a Yankton casino.<\/p>\n
Cwach said Deadwood opposed Yankton\u2019s request to the Legislature of putting the issue on the ballot saying Yankton\u2019s citizens needed to gather signatures on petitions, the way Deadwood residents did for the 1988 election, rather than have lawmakers to do it for them.<\/p>\n
However, Rapid City Republican David Johnson pointed out how Deadwood casinos\u2019 taxes and fees benefit not just Deadwood\u2019s historic preservation but Lawrence County\u2019s treasury and state government\u2019s general fund as well.<\/p>\n
Dell Rapids Republican Tom Pischke suggested legislators consider how tight state revenues are this year and that lawmakers could give a raise to Medicaid services providers, K-12 teachers and state employees. Governor Noem recommended those groups, who number in the tens of thousands of workers, shouldn\u2019t get more in the next state budget because state tax revenues haven\u2019t grown enough.<\/p>\n
Rapid City Republican Mike Diedrich, who in the past has been a lawyer for a gambling company, said 51 communities and 104 organizations throughout South Dakota benefited from historic preservation grants that came from Deadwood gambling proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been on this journey 40 years where we embraced gambling,\u201d said Volga Republican Bob Mills, who sponsored legislation again this year to progressively end South Dakota\u2019s video lottery, which has long been one of the top sources of government\u2019s general revenue after the state sales and use tax.<\/p>\n
Mills acknowledged that sports betting probably wouldn\u2019t turn into South Dakota\u2019s most-addictive type of gambling. Still, it was one more opportunity for people to hurt themselves, their families and friends. \u201cIn my opinion, we\u2019re in the water up to our chin, and a couple more steps, we\u2019re going to drown.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The elected representatives on Tuesday decided South Dakota voters should be asked on the November ballot if they want to allow sports wagering in the historic mining town of Deadwood. The House voted 36-27 for\u00a0SJR 501. A similar effort failed in the House last year. This time, one difference was that Governor Kristi Noem didn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","category-headlines","category-latest"],"yoast_head":"\n