Minnesota Senator Nicole Mitchell was recently charged with breaking into her stepmother’s home to retrieve her deceased father’s ashes, and the ripple effects of the arrest are wide reaching in the Minnesota legislature.

While it’s a stretch to say Mitchell’s arrest has completely stalled sports betting legalization efforts, it certainly hasn’t helped them progress. With just two weeks left in the state’s 2024 legislative session, there have been heated debates and increased focus on Mitchell’s status in the state Senate. She’s said she doesn’t plan to resign from her position.

Mitchell’s voting presence in the Senate is critical, as it gives Democrats a one-seat majority in the chamber.

Sen. Matt Klein recently told the Associated Press he thought sports betting legislation had about a 60-70% chance of passing a month ago, with those chances dwindling to closer to 20% now.

“It’s always been a bipartisan bill,” Klein told AP. “And bipartisan has taken a bit of a hit here in the last couple of weeks.”

Numerous bills floating

There are multiple sports betting bills circulating through the state legislature. None of them have passed through their chamber of origin.

HF 2000 was discussed last week in the House Taxes Committee, and while the bill moved out of the committee, several committee members said they expect the bill to fail.

“This bill will not pass,” Rep. Greg Davids said.

Davids and other Republicans in the committee said the bill could theoretically make its way out of the House, but they anticipate it failing in the Senate. Despite early optimism this session about the prospects of legalizing sports betting, it’ll take a drastic change in outlook over the next two weeks for Minnesota to have legal betting apps in the immediate future.