I have been reading the articles related to the governor’s new budget and his call for raising taxes on certain stock transactions and the wealthy.
Some local legislators have already cried out that this is the wrong time to call for raising taxes. This is my question then to those legislators: Early this year during the short session, they rushed through and got signed by both houses and the governor a sports betting bill, HB 2638, which granted the tribal casinos exclusive rights to allow sports betting. No other location in the state was given that right.
And so, this means, that unlike all of the other states that have granted sports betting licenses to race tracks, casinos and cardrooms, and collect taxes on the betting placed, Washington state has given away these rights with no ability to collect taxes on those wagers.
Seems we need to be asking, why not? And why the exclusive rights?
