Schumer, Hatch to introduce bill regulating sports betting

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are set to introduce legislation on Wednesday that would regulate sports gambling, according to The Associated Press.

The bill would instruct the Department of Justice to implement minimum requirements for states that want to legalize betting on sports.

{mosads}It was drafted in response to a Supreme Court decision in May that struck down a law banning gambling on sports, letting states and territories decide if they want to legalize the practice.

Since that ruling, eight states have legalized sports betting, and Washington, D.C., is likely to follow suit.

“As a lifelong sports fan I treasure the purity of the game,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said in a press release.

After the Supreme Court ruling, “I knew that Congress had an obligation to ensure that the integrity of the games we love was never compromised. That is why I believe the time is now to establish a strong national integrity standard for sports betting that will protect consumers and the games themselves from corruption,” Schumer added.

Hatch, who is retiring from Congress in early January, said that after the court’s ruling he “began working with stakeholders to ensure we were doing everything possible to protect the integrity of sports from corruption.”

“The legislation we’ve introduced today is the culmination of eight months of high-level meetings, discussions, and negotiations, and will serve as a placeholder for the next Congress, should they decide to continue working to address these issues,” he added.

Lawmakers have very few days left in Washington before recessing for the holidays, leaving little time to take action on the bill.