KALB: La. lawmaker benches bill to increase sales tax on online sports betting

By Colin Vedros

Published: Nov. 13, 2024 at 6:48 PM CST

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) - A Louisiana lawmaker has deferred his bill to increase the sales tax on online sports betting in the state.

House Bill 22 is one part of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax reform package and would provide an increase in the tax rate for sports wagering from 15 percent to 51 percent. It would also eliminate promotional discounts at any website or mobile app that provides electronic sports wagering.

“Things like increases in domestic violence, increases in economic insecurity among people because it is an addictive setup,” said Peter Robins-Brown, the executive director for Louisiana Progress. “They gamify all of this and make it look like you’re just kind of playing a game on an app like Angry Birds, or whatever the games are. It’s very addicting and people don’t think about the impacts until they see that they have an overdraft fee or, all of a sudden, they’re having a hard time paying rent.”

According to an analysis of HB22 from the legislative fiscal office, the bill would increase Louisiana’s revenue by $151 million. However, in the House Ways and Means Committee, HB 22 was voluntarily deferred by the bill’s author, State Representative Roger Wilder (R-District 71). This means the bill will most likely not be brought up again.

However, State Rep. and La. House Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson (R-District 27) believes the bill will come back to committee.

“The purpose is to try to offset some of the cost of the injuries to our community and our society by the very addictive online betting, which has touched a whole other section of our society,” he said.

Lawmakers have until Nov. 25 to pass tax reform bills in this special session.