BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana voters could determine on a parish-by-parish basis whether to legalize sports betting, under a bill that won easy passage Wednesday in the state Senate.
Senators voted 29-8 for the proposal by Sen. Cameron Henry, a Jefferson Parish Republican, that calls for the sports betting authorization to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The measure, which heads next to the House for debate, would let voters in each parish decide if wagering on sports should be legal in their parish.
But the scope of the betting — which sports would be allowed and where the wagers could happen — would require additional legislation to create the licensing, regulation and tax structures.
Previous efforts to legalize sports betting have failed to reach final passage.
