Missouri Sec. of State Denny Hoskins will not fast-track the launch of Missouri sports betting despite voters’ decision last November.  Hoskins denied the Missouri Gaming Commission’s request for emergency licensing last week. He cited a statute that said emergency rules could only be invoked if the situation presented “an immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare,” which he claimed it does not. Even with Hoskins’ approval, sports betting in Missouri wouldn’t have been up and running in time to accommodate March Madness betting. However, bets would’ve likely been authorized during the baseball and football seasons. Waiting to hear public opinion Hoskins, a former Republican state Senator who was sworn in as Missouri’s 41st Secretary of State in January, said he primarily dismissed the emergency request to gauge the public’s interest over the coming months. “Making it legal to bet sooner, such as this summer versus this fall, does not constitute an emergency as far as Missouri state law is concerned,” Hoskins said during a recent interview with St. Louis on Air. “So if I would have said: ‘Yes, this is an emergency,’ there would be no public comment period. And I've had a lot of folks reach out to me because they want to publicly comment.” Hoksins’ desire to wait for public approval circles back to what happened on the ballot late last year. Missouri Amendment 2 only passed by a few thousand votes and was not settled until after Election Day. Those who opposed the bill cited a variety of concerns, including fears of increased security risks and skepticism over the projected eight figures in educational funding raised through gaming taxes. “There's a lot of people who want to have the opportunity to comment on the rules and see if they weren't sold a bad bill of goods — as far as what they were told legalizing sports book was going to do for education and actually if money that's going to be sent to education,” Hoskins said. No further delays expected Hoskins has made several attempts to find the answer to sports betting in the Show Me State.  During his time as a Senator, Hoskins proposed several bills to legalize wagering. However, he only wanted to do so in conjunction with video gaming machines known as Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs). According to Hoskins, legalizing VLTs and weeding out illegal machines would generate more tax funding than sports betting. State casinos disagreed and were funded by major sportsbook companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings in the build-up to Election Day. Hoskins clarified that there’s no connection between his support for VLTs and his decision to deny the emergency sports betting request. He also clarified that Missouri sports betting was already legalized and that he doesn’t have the power to delay its launch beyond the normal window. The Missouri Gaming Commission said it will continue to follow its proposed rules that have an effective launch date of Aug. 30 and an expected launch any time before Dec. 1. Standard procedure dictates the window for public comment will open from March 17 to April 17.