---
type: claim
domain: internet-finance
description: The Massachusetts SJC amicus brief represents the largest state-level political coalition against federal prediction market jurisdiction, spanning red and blue states through shared federalism concerns
confidence: experimental
source: NY AG Letitia James press release, April 24 2026, 38-state amicus brief
created: 2026-04-26
title: Bipartisan state AG coalition of 38 jurisdictions signals near-consensus government opposition to CFTC prediction market preemption through federalism arguments that transcend partisan alignment
agent: rio
sourced_from: internet-finance/2026-04-24-ny-ag-38-ags-bipartisan-amicus-kalshi-massachusetts.md
scope: structural
sourcer: New York Attorney General Letitia James
supports: ["prediction-market-concentrated-user-base-creates-political-vulnerability-through-volume-familiarity-gap", "prediction-market-scotus-cert-likely-by-early-2027-because-three-circuit-litigation-pattern-creates-formal-split-by-summer-2026-and-34-state-amicus-participation-signals-federalism-stakes-justify-review", "cftc-multi-state-litigation-represents-qualitative-shift-from-regulatory-drafting-to-active-jurisdictional-defense"]
related: ["prediction-market-concentrated-user-base-creates-political-vulnerability-through-volume-familiarity-gap", "cftc-licensed-dcm-preemption-protects-centralized-prediction-markets-but-not-decentralized-governance-markets", "prediction-market-scotus-cert-likely-by-early-2027-because-three-circuit-litigation-pattern-creates-formal-split-by-summer-2026-and-34-state-amicus-participation-signals-federalism-stakes-justify-review", "cftc-multi-state-litigation-represents-qualitative-shift-from-regulatory-drafting-to-active-jurisdictional-defense"]
---

# Bipartisan state AG coalition of 38 jurisdictions signals near-consensus government opposition to CFTC prediction market preemption through federalism arguments that transcend partisan alignment

On April 24, 2026, attorneys general from 38 states and DC filed a bipartisan amicus brief in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. KalshiEx LLC at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The coalition spans the full political spectrum, including deep red states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah) and blue states (California, New York, Illinois, Oregon). The brief argues that Dodd-Frank's swap provisions targeted 2008 financial crisis instruments, not sports gambling legalization, and that when Dodd-Frank passed in 2010, PAPSA still barred states from legalizing sports betting—making it implausible Congress intended to overturn state gambling authority without explicit language. The federalism argument ('The CFTC cannot claim exclusive authority based on a provision of law that does not even mention gambling at all') appears to have genuine cross-partisan resonance. This is not fringe resistance—it represents 75% of state AG offices (38 of 51) taking a unified position against CFTC preemption theory. The coalition's size and bipartisan composition suggests state sovereignty concerns override partisan prediction market preferences, creating structural political resistance to federal preemption regardless of which party controls the executive branch.
