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Date: 7/2/2021
SPRINGFIELD – State Rep. Orlando Ramos believes the bill he filed in the House – a mirror bill was filed in the Senate by state Sen. Adam Gomez – will provide much needed racial equity to the discussion of sports betting.
Ramos said during an interview with Focus Springfield the bill would allow a greater number of businesses to be involved with sports wagering.
Looking at how the commonwealth structured the laws regarding legal cannabis industry, Ramos said there are “very few” people of color who own businesses in the cannabis sector.
“We want to get it right this time around with sports betting,” he said.
Racial equity as well as allowing sports betting to be licensed to restaurants and bars is essential, he added.
Ramos said the assumption with the cannabis industry is the inclusion of people of color would be “organic,” but that has not happened.
“We have a racial wealth gap in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and across the country … and part of the reason is legislation. Laws that have been passed that continue to haunt us to this day,” he said.
Legislation must be used “to help close the gap,” Ramos asserted.
Ramos said some people are not comfortable putting their credit card information into an online betting site and may live too far away to regularly visit a casino.
Ramos explained, “That’s the idea: to keep people where they are in their bars and restaurants, enjoy the game and they can place their bet at a kiosk … we’re giving people just another option to place a bet. Of course the bar or restaurant would benefit from that bet that is placed at their location.”
What kind of sports – professional or collegiate – on which wagers could be made is a hot topic among legislators. Ramos said his bill does not address that issue as he has an open mind about that aspect of sports gambling. He noted other states have allowed betting on college sports but have not allowed bets on their own state universities.
“There’s several different options we could go with,” he said.
He and Gomez did exclude any bets on any events involving animals, he added.
The reaction from his colleagues has been “receptive,” he said.
Concerning Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill that would establish a tax holiday for the months of August and September, Ramos said, “I’m always open to new ideas … I think there is some merit in the idea. I’m not sure if two months is the number, but we certainly could entertain the idea of having it extended … local businesses, small businesses could benefit from it.”
Ramos would also consider extending the tax holiday to meals taxes, helping locally owned restaurants.
With the reopening of the state, Ramos noted that as a freshman member of the House the virtual way the state has been doing business for the last year is the only way he has known.
There are pros and cons to the situation, he noted, “In the Zoom virtual world he was able to be in more places. I can go from a meeting in the district to a meeting in Boston in just a matter of seconds by pushing a button. That has its benefits. I’m saving money on gas by not having to drive to the State House multiple times a week. But it also has it challenges. I still have colleagues in the House I haven’t had the chance to meet.”
Speaking from his role as a Springfield City Councilor, Ramos spoke about his proposed ordinance that would prohibit gas stations in Springfield from selling fuel to people illegally driving dirt bikes, which is seen as a problem in many neighborhoods of the city. He explained other communities have enacted such a law as one way to discourage the practice.
“The intent of it is to be another tool,” he said. “It’s not a cure-all, it’s not going to fix the problem on its own.”
While he noted some people might think training their employees about the ordinance would be an inconvenience, he views it no differently than training people to sell alcohol to minors.
“I’m hoping to get the business owners aboard with this ordinance,” he said.
The City Council had already passed an ordinance of his that increased fines for driving dirt bikes illegally and has passed a Home Rule Petition, which is now in the House for approval that would give the Springfield police the ability to confiscate and crush the bikes that are used illegally.
He stressed this is a public safety issue that in the past has included several deaths.
To view the complete interview go to https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=etqoP4FjFCQ.