House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) has appointed State Representative David K. Muradian, Jr. (R-Grafton) to serve on a six-member conference committee that will work to develop a consensus framework for legalized sports betting in Massachusetts.
More than 30 states have authorized sports betting since a 2018 US Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for states to regulate the process, including Connecticut, Maine, New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Massachusetts has taken steps to join that list, with the House of Representatives approving sports wagering legislation on July 23, 2021 and the Senate passing its own version on April 28, 2022.
“Massachusetts continues to lose valuable revenues to our neighboring states that have already moved forward with implementing some form of state-sanctioned sports wagering,” said Representative Jones. “Although the House and Senate have taken significantly different approaches to this issue, I am confident that David will find a way to work with his fellow conferees to reach a compromise that will best position the Commonwealth for a successful rollout.”
Under the House proposal, sports wagering would be allowed for both professional and college sporting events, but the Senate version would preclude college betting. The Senate has also proposed a significantly higher tax rate than the House to be assessed on sports betting receipts and would ban sports betting ads during live sports broadcasts.
Joining Representative Muradian on the conference committee are Representative Jerald Parisella (D-Beverly) and Senator Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow), who currently serve as the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Also serving on the conference committee are the chairmen of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, Representative Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston) and Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), along with Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth).
First elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, Representative Muradian represents the Ninth Worcester District communities of Grafton, Northbridge and Upton. He currently serves as the Ranking Minority Member of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and the House Committee on Operations, Facilities and Security, and is a member of the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change and the Joint Committee on Housing.
