CA: Senate Supports PASPA Challenge Regarding Sports Betting

The state Senate on Friday weighed in to support New Jersey in its effort to overturn a federal ban on sports betting in most states, but Californians should not count on being able to wager on their favorite team anytime soon.

The Senate approved a resolution by Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) urging the president and Congress to remove the federal ban on sports wagering that applies to all but four states.

The resolution also asks Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown to "take legal action" to "challenge enforcement" of the federal law, including filing a court brief supporting New Jersey’s lawsuit to overturn the ban.

Wright estimated that Californians spend at least $500 million annually on sports betting even though it is not legal in the state.

He won his colleagues' support after noting the overturning the federal prohibition would be only the first of multiple steps that would be needed to allow sports betting in California.

"Then we will come back and fight it out here as to whether or not we actually pass a statute to engage in it," he said.

-- Patrick McGreevy of the LA Times Blog