Will sports betting money really go to education? Here’s what the amendment says

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (WGEM) – A main thread of criticism surrounding an initiative to legalize sports wagering in Missouri implies that one of the stated benefits of the new industry, a major boost to education funding, is an overstated or hollow promise.

Some critics of the sports wagering effort are skeptical about how the state’s General Assembly will react to an influx of education funding.

One concern among skeptics is that once passed, the legislature will pull general revenue out of education as sports wagering money is added in, dissolving any benefit of the new industry on Missouri’s education.

Here’s a breakdown of the streams of revenue that would be created by this new industry:

The Fees:

Fees collected by the commission for the application and licensing process will be first used to reimburse whatever “reasonable expenses” are incurred by the Gaming Commission.

The rest would be funneled into a newly created “Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund,” to be overseen by the State Treasurer’s Office.

The Fines:

No designation is identified for the revenue collected by fines that might be imposed. The resolution caps fines at $50,000 per violation or $100,000 resulting from multiple violations within the same “occurrence of events.”

Wagering Tax:

The amendment would place a 10% tax on the adjusted gross revenue (income minus deductions) collected by sports wagering.

That revenue is allocated first to cover any of the “reasonable expenses” incurred by the Gaming Commission that were not covered by revenue from fees.

After those expenses are covered, 10% of the remaining wagering tax revenue or $5 million dollars, whichever is greater, would be allocated to the state’s Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund. Finally, whatever revenue is remaining is legally required to be spent on “institutions of elementary, secondary, and higher education” in Missouri.

The resolution does not specify how the money is to be spent by these institutions, which waters down claims the amendment will “raise teacher pay.”

Additionally, the State Auditor’s Office would be tasked with performing an annual audit of the revenue collected and spent by the license holders.

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