Missouri Update from John Pappas 4.27
I am currently at the Missouri state Capitol meeting with lawmakers about sports betting (and iGaming in the future). I met with Senator Hoskins this morning and he has prepared a stack of amendments which he plans to introduce one by one. His goal is to force a vote on VLT legalization, which is a priority of his, but strongly opposed by the casinos.
His goal with the amendments is not to get them passed, but use them as a filibuster and hopefully negotiate some compromise. Right now he wants nothing less than full VLT legalization and is willing to hold sports betting hostage to get something.
There is a lot of work being done to get Senate leadership to find something (other than VLTs) to offer Sen Hoskins to move him off his sports betting amendments and slowing down (potentially killing) the bill.