California sports bettors sweat as legislative hearing delayed

California’s sports bettors have been given another week in which to sweat the fate of the legislature’s proposed mobile wagering bill.

Late Wednesday, the California state Senate Appropriations Committee canceled its Thursday hearing of Senate Constitutional Amendment 6 (SCA-6), which seeks a November ballot question on whether to authorize land-based and mobile sports betting via tribal casinos and state racetracks. The hearing was canceled “at the request of author” Sen. Bill Dodd.

A hearing on SCA-6 has been rescheduled for Tuesday, and if it receives a favorable vote from the Committee it will head to the Senate floor for a vote. Assuming that vote is positive, SCA-6 would then head to the state Assembly, although the Assembly’s last sitting day ahead of its summer recess is this Friday.

There’s a chance the Assembly might agree to reconvene for the purpose of approving SCA-6 and other bills currently dwelling in the Senate’s ‘Suspense File.’ There are a few other procedural arrows left in the quiver should the Assembly prefer to spend the summer lounging by the pool and avoiding COVID-19.