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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana hikes sports gambling tax to subsidize college athletics
The LSU baseball team celebrates after winning the College World Series against Florida, 18-4, on June 26, 2023, at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. (Jacob Reeder/LSU Sports Information) Louisiana legislators have approved a plan to give most college athletic programs in Louisiana nearly $2 million in state tax revenue annually. House Bill 639 by Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, cleared the Senate on a 35-3 vote Sunday, after previously passing the House 74-15. Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign it into law. Riser's bill would increase the tax on sports gambling in Louisiana from 15% to 21.5%. One-fourth of that revenue would go to the Supporting Programs, Opportunities, Resources and Teams (SPORT) Fund to benefit student-athletes at Louisiana's public universities that compete at the NCAA Division I level — UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Grambling, McNeese, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern, Southern and the University of New Orleans. Under the new tax rate, Louisiana would receive about $77 million annually from sports gambling, with about $20 million dedicated to the new fund. Each school would get approximately $1.7 million annually. The money could be used for new scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements, litigation settlement fees and Alston awards, which are education-related awards universities give to college athletes. The $1.7 million allocation is a small drop in the bucket for LSU, which has an athletics budget of over $200 million. But it would be a significant lifeline for schools such as Southern, Nicholls and ULM, which each spend less than $20 million a year on their sports program. The proposed increase in sports gambling taxes has bipartisan support, with both sides saying the revenue should be used to offset the 'social ills' of gambling. The higher rate would generate more money for addiction programs. But the decision to dedicate some of the revenue to college athletics at a time when the state is under budget constraints troubles some progressives. 'Legalized mobile gambling has created or exacerbated many social and cultural problems, including addiction, bankruptcies and even increases in domestic violence,' said Peter Robins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress, an advocacy group for working-class and marginalized communities. 'New tax revenue should be used first and foremost to address some of those problems before we talk about spending more money on college sports.' Currently, the state's split for sports gambling tax revenue calls for 25% to go toward early childhood education, 10% to local governments, 3% to gambling addiction programs and the rest to other priorities and the state general fund. Under Riser's bill, childhood education, local governments and addiction recovery would retain their existing share of tax proceeds. In addition to the 25% for college athletics, another 3% would be dedicated to the Louisiana Postsecondary Inclusive Education Fund to finance programs for students with disabilities. The rest goes into the state general fund for a variety of government needs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Louisiana hikes sports gambling tax to subsidize college athletics
The LSU baseball team celebrates after winning the College World Series against Florida, 18-4, on June 26, 2023, at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. (Jacob Reeder/LSU Sports Information) Louisiana legislators have approved a plan to give most college athletic programs in Louisiana nearly $2 million in state tax revenue annually. House Bill 639 by Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, cleared the Senate on a 35-3 vote Sunday, after previously passing the House 74-15. Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign it into law. Riser's bill would increase the tax on sports gambling in Louisiana from 15% to 21.5%. One-fourth of that revenue would go to the Supporting Programs, Opportunities, Resources and Teams (SPORT) Fund to benefit student-athletes at Louisiana's public universities that compete at the NCAA Division I level — UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Grambling, McNeese, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern, Southern and the University of New Orleans. Under the new tax rate, Louisiana would receive about $77 million annually from sports gambling, with about $20 million dedicated to the new fund. Each school would get approximately $1.7 million annually. The money could be used for new scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements, litigation settlement fees and Alston awards, which are education-related awards universities give to college athletes. The $1.7 million allocation is a small drop in the bucket for LSU, which has an athletics budget of over $200 million. But it would be a significant lifeline for schools such as Southern, Nicholls and ULM, which each spend less than $20 million a year on their sports program. The proposed increase in sports gambling taxes has bipartisan support, with both sides saying the revenue should be used to offset the 'social ills' of gambling. The higher rate would generate more money for addiction programs. But the decision to dedicate some of the revenue to college athletics at a time when the state is under budget constraints troubles some progressives. 'Legalized mobile gambling has created or exacerbated many social and cultural problems, including addiction, bankruptcies and even increases in domestic violence,' said Peter Robins-Brown, executive director of Louisiana Progress, an advocacy group for working-class and marginalized communities. 'New tax revenue should be used first and foremost to address some of those problems before we talk about spending more money on college sports.' Currently, the state's split for sports gambling tax revenue calls for 25% to go toward early childhood education, 10% to local governments, 3% to gambling addiction programs and the rest to other priorities and the state general fund. Under Riser's bill, childhood education, local governments and addiction recovery would retain their existing share of tax proceeds. In addition to the 25% for college athletics, another 3% would be dedicated to the Louisiana Postsecondary Inclusive Education Fund to finance programs for students with disabilities. The rest goes into the state general fund for a variety of government needs. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed tax hike on online sports betting lowered in House
BATON ROUGE, La. (LSU Manship School News Service) – The Louisiana House advanced a bill Tuesday to raise taxes on online sports betting after adopting an amendment to lower the amount of the tax increase. As amended, House Bill 639 by Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia would increase the tax rate on mobile sports wagering from 15% to 21.5% That is down from the originally proposed 32.5%. The 10% tax on in-person retail betting remains unchanged. The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, is part of broader efforts to raise recurring revenue as lawmakers work to close an estimated $338.9 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2026. The bill would dedicate 25% of online wagering tax revenue to a new college sports fund, which would send some of the money directly to public college athletic departments. Another 3% would be used to support students with disabilities in higher education. Mobile sports betting, which has grown rapidly since launching in Louisiana in 2022, is one of the limited ways lawmakers are looking to raise revenue without touching other taxes. Is Louisiana the best state for gambling? See where state ranks Before the amendment lowering the proposed tax rate, state fiscal analysts estimated that the bill could nearly triple sports wagering tax collections, from about $59 million to $190 million annually by 2030. But with the scaled-back rate, the new revenue estimate is not clear. The bill also proposes increased contributions from the gaming tax to early childhood education, local governments and the state's general fund, though those figures are expected to change with the amended tax rate. Funeral arrangements set for oldest Louisiana World War II veteran Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson suspends re-election campaign LSU professor's free speech suit rejected by state's highest court Proposed tax hike on online sports betting lowered in House First tropical wave appears ahead of hurricane season. Here's what to know Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
