PHOENIX β State senators gave final approval late Monday to opening the door for Arizonans to be able to gamble legally on professional and amateur sports as well as fantasy sports.
The 23-6 vote came after a majority of lawmakers rejected a series of amendments seeking to change everything from oversight of the new expanded gaming to where the money goes.
The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is expected to sign it because he essentially drafted it.
The vote also came after a Tucson lawmaker accused her Democratic colleagues of trading their votes on the controversial gaming bill for funding availability to spend on other legislative priorities.
Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales charged on Monday the votes needed for the gaming bill effectively were bought when Ducey offered to let legislative Democrats spend some of the latest COVID-relief dollars on priorities of their choosing.
Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, acknowledged there was money at play. She said the Governorβs Office started off at a figure much lower than the $90 million the Democratic leaders eventually negotiated.
But Rios said this had nothing to do with the gaming bill. In fact, she said, most Democratic lawmakers already supported the bill. The tribes they represent want the legislation to pass so that Ducey signs deals with them to expand their own gaming opportunities, she said. βAt the end of the day, Democrats have historically stood with our Native America tribes,β Rios said.
Instead, she said, the funding offer was about corralling the necessary votes for an entirely separate measure, one that vastly expanded the tax credits available to companies that locate or expand in Arizona. That legislation had failed to get Senate approval on March 17, Rios pointed out.
In the meantime, Intel Corp. was preparing a March 23 announcement that it intended to invest $20 billion in construction of two new plants in Arizona to manufacture computer chips. Ducey was anxious to ensure the legislation was in place for him to sign that day, she said.
Rios said most of her members already supported the incentive legislation, and were happy to ensure timely approval of the bill to Ducey on March 22.
βWe figured, what the heck,β Rios told Capitol Media Services. βIf weβre in a position to also engage the Governorβs Office so that he allows us to have however small a part in appropriating COVID dollars to our communities, communities of color that really need it, absolutely weβre going to take advantage of that.
βI think we would be neglectful not to.β
The charges by Gonzales about trading votes for funding availability came as senators late Monday were debating legislation to allow Arizonans to gamble on professional and college sports as well as on fantasy sports.
She wasnβt the only one with concerns.
Among Republicans, Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, objected to guaranteeing that the owners of every sports team and franchise in the state would be getting a license not only to take bets on their own games but on any other sporting event in the state. They could also set up a network to take wagers remotely.
She said such a lucrative business should be open to the highest bidder, especially with the state awarding only 10 such deals.
The issue divides up into two areas.
One is the new gaming compacts Ducey already has negotiated in secret with the tribes.
Arizona voters agreed in 2002 to give tribes the exclusive right to operate casinos. That led to a series of 20-year compacts signed with tribes. Those compacts begin to expire next year.
Duceyβs office contends these arenβt new deals, which might require either voter or legislative approval, but instead simply βmodernizeβ the current compacts.
In exchange, however, Ducey wants to allow off-reservation wagering on sporting events, which was precluded in the original 2002 deals that gave all gaming rights to tribes. Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, said this part of the plan could generate revenues in excess of $100 million a year.
But Ducey wonβt sign the new compacts to give the tribes expanded gaming unless and until the Legislature approves the off-reservation component he wants. And that has led to pressure on lawmakers whose districts include reservations to support the legislation.
Gonzales pointed out the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state universities, is on record in opposition to the measure because it would allow people to wager on college games.
She said such gaming would complicate athletic issues for the University of Arizona, which is in her legislative district.
