Oregon Democrat John Lively to Chair the “Gambling Regulation Committee”

• Springfield State Rep. John Lively to Chair New Oregon House Committee

• Lively Charged with “Thoroughly Examining the State of Gambling in Oregon”

• New Panel Has Authority to Introduce Legislation and Send it to a House Vote  

Springfield State Rep. John Lively to Chair New Oregon House Committee

If you are a sports gambler who lives in Oregon, the good news is you can legally place sports bets in your state, but the bad news is how limited your options are – a market downside that will no doubt have the attention of the state’s new Gambling Regulation Committee.

That group has evolved from an interim panel that spent the summer “combing through the state’s lottery and gaming laws,” with Democrat John Lively named as its chair for the upcoming legislative session, that’s all according to Oregon reporter Chris M Lehman of KLCC News.

Currently, Beaver State sports bettors are forced to either use their DraftKings sportsbook app to place their mobile bets which is regulated by the Oregon Lottery, or they can show up to one of the ten tribally operated casinos located around the state.

Sports betting has been legal there since 2019 when the only mobile option was a sportsbook app called Scoreboard, but its many limitations left customers frustrated so the Oregon Lottery switched to DraftKings, that single option one of many limitations that Lively plans to examine.

Lively Charged with “Thoroughly Examining the State of Gambling in Oregon”

Oregon is one of 30 U.S. states that have taken advantage of their right to legalize, regulate, and tax a sports betting market, allowable since May 2018 when the Supreme Court overturned PASPA thereby giving states that option, now a multi-trillion dollar market that’s still growing.

According to KLCC, Rep. Lively’s goal is to “thoroughly examine the state of gambling in Oregon” which means deciding how to evolve its video lottery, horse racing, off-track betting, charitable and social gaming, and now sports betting, both mobile and retail.

Lively told KLCC his committee was going to be looking at the big picture of Oregon gambling:

“Where is all this going and should there be limits on how fast gambling grows or doesn’t grow, rather than just the fact that if there’s people willing to do it, then we’ll do it.”

One concern is how the ongoing growth of that industry will affect the native tribes there who currently operate those ten casinos statewide, but Lively told KLCC that his “panel would discuss how we would support and protect the tribes if we continue to grow the lottery."

And unlike that summer interim committee, this current version chaired by Rep. Lively has the power to introduce a bill to the state House for a vote.

New Panel Has Authority to Introduce Legislation and Send it to a House Vote

Oregon’s next state legislative session is scheduled to begin on January 17 and adjourn on June 26, so Rep. Lively’s new Gambling Regulation Committee has half a year to bring some type of legislation to the House for a vote, plenty of time to get the job done.

Not only will gaming market policy be a topic of debate, Rep. Lively told KLCC that his committee’s attention will also be spent on the issue of problem gambling:

"There are areas that we could potentially reach some kind of agreement on and work on policy direction, (such as) how well we take care of people who are addicted to gambling, specifically those who are low-income who are most likely to be negatively impacted."

It’s a good plan that can bring an even better sports betting market to Oregon, this an ongoing story we will keep you updated on as the news unfolds.