Anyone expecting Louisiana to legalize sports gambling before the end of the current legislative session can quit holding his breath – it’s not going to happen. A bill submitted by Senator Danny Martiny to try and grab a piece of the industry has been stopped in its tracks by the House Appropriations Committee. The bill has reportedly become so bogged down with amendments that it can’t take another step forward.

Earlier this month, the bill was still making progress, albeit at a snail’s pace. Louisiana’s Senate liked the bill, giving its seal of approval for wagers on professional, college and international sports competitions at all of the state’s 16 casinos, as well as its four racetracks. However, the House took the bill and began to chop it up, adding new amendments designed more to cause confusion that to support the interests of Louisiana’s residents.

Martiny had correctly argued that residents were already participating in sports gambling, but that they were doing so through illegal offshore sites or by visiting Louisiana’s neighbor, Mississippi where the activity was legalized last August. He was pushing the bill as a means to raise tax income for the state, as well as to ensure better consumer protection. The House is apparently against both goals.

The House Appropriations Committee rejected the bill by a vote of 14-6. Martiny indicated that it had become so obfuscated by amendments that there would be virtually no chance of the bill being approved if it were sent to the House floor for a vote.