On Tuesday, backers of Proposition 27, the California initiative that would legalize statewide mobile wagering, released their first ad that completely embraces their cause — solutions to homelessness and mental health issues through sports betting tax revenue.
The ad shines a spotlight on the City of Refuge, a Sacramento homeless facility that houses up to 26 families. In the ad, co-founder Rachelle Ditmore clearly hits on the key issues the proposition promises to address.
Proposition 27, funded by Bally's,'BetMGM,'DraftKings, Fanatics,'FanDuel, PENN Entertainment/Barstool Sportsbook, and'WynnBET, and supported by three smaller gaming tribes, is one of two sports betting initiatives that will be on the November ballot. The other, Proposition 26, would allow for in-person wagering at tribal casinos and four horse racetracks, the addition of ball-and-dice games at casinos, and “people or entities that believe someone is breaking [gambling] laws to file a civil lawsuit in state trial courts.”
“Here at City of Refuge, we currently house up to 26 families. We reduce homelessness, address mental health, provide spaces for addiction to be broken, and create spaces of healing and restoration,” Ditmore says in the ad. “For the first time ever, Prop 27 will provide permanent funding for organizations just like ours. Saying yes to Prop 27 means more people get the assistance that they need. They get someone to partner in such a way to see transformation come to them. Yes on Prop 27 because there's no place like home.”