South Carolina Baptist Convention

Public Policy Action Alert

Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee scheduled a subcommittee hearing for H3625, known as the South Carolina Sports Wagering Act. As I reported in my most recent Legislative Update, this bill will legalize sports wagering and create The South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission. This Revenue Policy Legislative Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee will meet Tuesday, April 22 one and a half hours after the adjournment of the House. The House begins its session at noon on that day, so the time for the subcommittee hearing will be determined by how long the House remains in session.

Usually, subcommittees meet to hear testimony on a bill. There is no established sign-up procedure for the hearing as of this writing. I will send out the sign-up information as soon as it is available, so look for an additional action alert later this week or on Monday of next week.

Since 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, online sports wagering has multiplied exponentially. As the numbers of people betting on sporting events have grown, multiple studies are revealing the devastating psychological, sociological, and economic effects to the exploding number of problem gamblers. Writing for the Atlantic, Charles Faith Lehman said legalizing gambling was a huge mistake and the more data that comes in, the more that claim has merit. Researchers at UCLA found states that implemented laws legalizing sports wagering saw “bankruptcies increase 28% and debt transferred to debt collectors increased 8%. In his article for the Atlantic, Lehman cited a study from the University of Oregon that revealed states with legalized sports wagering saw a 9% increase in intimate partner violence.

*PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY*

Contact your state Senator and Representative (Here). Let them know your thoughts on the legalization of gambling. If you can, please come to the Statehouse for the hearing next Tuesday afternoon. South Carolina can do better than allowing an addictive and destructive force into our state.

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

I will take part in a joint press conference on the dangers of gambling on Tuesday, April 29 at 2:00pm at the Statehouse. Our goal is to get 100 pastors and as many others as we can to attend. Please try to attend this press conference. Pressure is building on the Legislature to legalize pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, sports wagering, and casinos. We need everyone who will stand against this major change to South Carolina culture to stand up now.

He must increase, I must decrease,

Tony Beam

SCBaptist Policy Consultant