COLUMBUS, OH (WCMH)- March Madness is under way and although millions of Americans will be betting on sports, in Ohio it remains illegal.

“Our expectation is that 47.5 million Americans plan to bet on March Madness this year,” said Casey Clark, American Gaming Association.

Sports betting has stalled in the legislature as lawmakers debate how it should be implemented. Right now an Ohio Senate committee is holding hearings and has plans to draft a new bill sometime in the next month. Rep. Brigid Kelly says Sports Betting can’t come soon enough in Ohio.

“People can go to Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia right across the border, if they want to bet. So we’re leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table for our own state,” said Rep. Kelly, (D) Cincinnati.

The Senate Committee on Gaming has heard testimony from professional teams asking lawmakers to pass the measure as soon as possible but they are also hearing from those who don’t want anything to do with sports betting.

“Inter-collegiate athletics are amateur sports and inviting gaming to Ohio and betting on amateur sports puts additional pressure and addition cost on those athletic institutions,” said Bruce Johnson, President of the Inter-University Council of Ohio.

Johnson says College and High School sports should be left out of sports betting in Ohio. He says the integrity of these sports would be on the line.

“NFL athletes get paid millions of dollars, they wouldn’t threaten their career to do that, but you can’t necessary say that for amateurs,” said Johnson.

Clark countered this point with the fact that people already bet on college sports illegally and would continue to do so even if it’s not approved by lawmakers.

“We know people are betting on college sports right now, there is no real way to regulate it. We’re bringing it out into the sunshine, and we’re regulating it. We’re making sure there’s an integrity monitoring system,” said Rep. Kelly.

The Ohio Senate Select Committee on Gaming is planning at least one more hearing on sports betting before drafting the new legislation.