Third Sports Betting Ballot Proposal Filed In California

• The California Solutions To Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act was filed on August 31, and - if approved - would be on the ballot for the 2022 elections.
• The ballot measure is the third regarding sports betting to be filed in California; one proposal is already slated to be on the ballot.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California residents may be voting on three separate sports betting ballot initiatives during the 2022 elections, after the third ballot proposal to regulate the sports betting industry was filed.

One proposal, which would regulate the sports betting industry and give control of the market to California’s native tribes, is already slated to be on the ballot; however, it will be facing competition from a new proposal.

The new proposal, known as the “California Solutions To Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act,” was filed on August 31.

Internet sports betting companies collaborated on the bill, which would similarly regulate the sports betting industry in California. The bill would split profits from sports betting between tribal gambling operators and mental health services on a 15/85 split.

Dana Williamson, a California political strategist, is managing the campaign to get the measure on the ballot. She is painting the initiative as purely a way to fix and fund California’s rampant homelessness problem.

“Permanent solutions require a permanent funding source,” Williamson told Politico. “The California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act will raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually to fight homelessness and expand mental health support in California by allowing regulated entities to offer safe, responsible sports betting online."

How the bill will be perceived by the constituents of California compared to other sports betting initiatives remains to be seen, but the proposal is yet another step in the right direction for California legalizing and regulating sports betting.

Regardless of which measures end up on the ballot, it seems a near certainty that California will be added to the list of states with legal, regulated sports betting industries by 2022.