On Beacon Hill:Massachusetts lawmakers have taken a small step toward making some pretty big changes to the state's sports betting landscape. As the State House News Service first reported yesterday, a Senate bill that would ban prop bets and betting on live games recently passed its first hurdle: a favorable 5-0 vote from the chamber's committee on economic development and emerging technologies. But does it have the legs to become law? Here's what to know:
What's the reason for the proposal?The bill— sponsored by state Sen. John Keenan — comes amid growing concern about sports betting addiction,particularly among young adults. According to Keenan, his bill takes aim at the "most addictive form of bets." (Prop betsare wagers on an individual performance or a specific event happening during a game, such as who scores a touchdown or wins Super Bowl MVP. Live bets are wagers with constantly changing odds while the game is in progress.) "They are quick, they're easy to place, and they provide instant gratification if somebody should win — or a desire to respond to it, if they should lose, perhaps by doubling down," Keenan told WBUR's Rachell Sanchez-Smith last year, after first introducing the bill.
What else does it do? If passed, the so-called Bettor Health Act wouldn't only ban live betting and prop bets. It would also ban sports betting ads during televised sporting events in Massachusetts and raise the state's 20% tax on online and mobile sports betting revenue to 51% — the same rate it's taxed at in neighboring New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York.
What's next: The bill is still far off from hitting Gov. Maura Healey's desk, and State House leaders have yet to indicate any support. (The offices of both House Speaker Ron Mariano — whospearheaded the push in 2022to legalize sports betting — and Senate President Karen Spilka declined to comment on the legislation Monday.) The bill now goes the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which could advance to a full Senate voteor do nothing at all.
In other sports-related news:Prosecutors aredropping a misdemeanor domestic assault chargeagainst New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore. The 26-year-oldhad been accusedof grabbing his girlfriend by the shirt and throwing her to the floor during an argument last summer in Mansfield — which allegedly began with a disagreement over their bedroom thermostat being set at 70 degrees versus 68.
However, Bristol County prosecutors said they now don't believe they can prove their case against Barmore, because the woman who made the complaint did not want to travel out of state for the proceedings, among other reasons.
Point32Health, the company behind Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, laid off roughly 100 employees yesterday — or 2.3% of its workforce.As The Boston Globe first reported, it's just the latest round of job cuts for the Canton-based health insurer, which is now on year five of multimillion-dollar operating losses. According to the Globe, Point32 has cut more than 450 jobs since last October.
All aboard:Tickets go on sale todayfor the MBTA's special event trains for this month's Brazil-France exhibition soccer match at Gillette Stadium. The $30 tickets will be available at 11 a.m. exclusively on themTicket app. The T is running four trains from Boston's South Station to Foxborough for the March 26 friendly. As WBUR's Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez recently reported, the agency is using the game as atrial run for the World Cup, when the T will run as many as 14 special event trains on game days.
The increased special event service also means that the T will be canceling some regular commuter rail trains on the Foxborough/Franklin line that afternoon.Click here for all the details.
P.S.— Ever wondered who's behind the news?Click herefor a look at the baby broadcasters, engineers and managers who keep WBUR going (plus a Boston sports icon for good measure).
More than four-fifths of Boston Public School seniors graduated last year, breaking a 20-year district record. But the city still lags behind the statewide average of students graduating in four years. Read more.
The settlement announced Monday by the Justice Department to resolve its antitrust suit against the entertainment conglomerate that includes Ticketmaster is "wholly inadequate," according to Campbell.Read more.
In a phone call with CBS News Monday, Trump said "the war is very complete." But at a separate event with Republican lawmakers, he said the U.S. still needed to achieve "ultimate victory."Read more.
A 2006 conference for physicists in the U.S. Virgin Islands that included a trip to Jeffrey Epstein's private island shows how he used his wealth to build relationships with prominent scientists.Read more.
Voting ends Tuesday night in the district that former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene left this year after a feud with President Trump. It's unclear if his pick will win her spot.Read more.
MY NOTE: GEORGIA ALLOWS REPUBLICANS TO FLOOD THE PROCESS:
Twenty-one candidates are running in special general election on March 10 to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene (R)
For the past 20 years, psychiatrist Nancy Rappaport has convened an educator conference in Boston on student mental health.She writes in this Cognoscenti commentarythat this year's participants demonstrated how to exercise what agency they have — a critical lesson for any one who's been feeling a little helpless lately.
A year after Mahmoud Khalil was detained outside his New York apartment, here'sa look at where his legal fight stands and its implications for other First Amendment cases.
Geese's iconic "V" formations and trademark squawks can be seen and heard overhead as they go back and forth to the south through the year. But what does it take for such a long trip?Read more.
