Legal gambling has grown in leaps and bounds in Wyoming over the past few years, and the Wyoming Legislature hasn’t added much oversight on the $2 billion per year industry.
State Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, wants to see more local control over gambling. He saw the impacts of the lack of local regulatory control firsthand in 2012 when he was a county commissioner for Sweetwater County.
Although county commissioners can approve or deny historic horse racing in their counties, they can’t deny individual permits for skill games once the overarching activity has been approved.
“They should have the ability to deny a permit,” Kolb said. “The local communities don’t have control. Once you get them in, you can’t deny them.”
House Bill 85 was brought during this year’s legislative session and would’ve addressed this issue but died before passing into law.
Kolb told Cowboy State Daily this bill was too unwieldy and tried to make too many changes at once. He believes creating a select committee could be a better approach.
“You can’t run before you crawl,” he said.
Katharine Wilkinson, a lobbyist for Cowboy Skill, a skill-games company, said her industry has supported more regulation and mentioned how various legislation has passed into law regulating her industry, as recently as 2023.
“When our operators brought these games into the state, they did their homework,” she said.
Wilkinson mentioned restrictions such as the number of games that can be located at one location, caps on how much money can be bet and won per play, age to play as well as the specific locations gaming terminals can be located at.
“We did not want Wyoming to look like Montana with a casino at every corner,” she said.
How Did We Get Here?
The gaming industry in Wyoming is overseen by a citizen commission and staffed department, but only the Legislature can create new laws to reign in the industry. On Tuesday, the Management Council voted to approve Kolb’s request to create a “Select Committee on Gaming.”
The committee will study gaming issues in the state but will have no power to directly pass legislation into law.
It wasn’t until 1967 that legal gambling was permanently established in Wyoming with the legalization of parimutuel wagering. With that, the first iteration of what is now known as the Wyoming Gaming Commission was established.
That year, the Legislature also authorized live horse racing. Despite some early success and legislative changes favoring Wyoming-bred horses and multiple wagering opportunities, participation in this sport declined to the point that by 2010 there was no more live horse racing in the state.
Thus came the inspiration for the legalization of historic horse racing (HHR) in 2013, which uses the results of previously held horse races to determine the winners and losers playing on gambling machines. In 2023, HHR brought in $1.6 billion in revenue alone.
Although HHR was legalized for the purpose of supporting live horse racing, Kolb said the Legislature needs to decide which one of these activities should take top priority.
“There’s big money and big pressure about what we should do,” Kolb said.
Rep. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, and Kolb said this level of growth could never have been foreseen but has now created a landscape that lacks uniformity across the state.
The select committee will be composed of three Senate and House members apiece. The panel will meet four times annually.
Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, believes there’s a general lack of knowledge on gaming in the Legislature and wants to approach the issue from an education standpoint.
“We’re getting further and further behind,” Crago said.
Senate Vice President Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, agreed, saying there’s a general reluctance to take up gaming bills because of a lack of understanding. But Salazar also questioned if gaming issues can be mastered in only four meetings a year.
Anti-Gaming
House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Gillette, openly admitted on Tuesday he hates gambling, saying he already does enough of that in his livelihood of ranching. He believes the social implications of gambling will always outweigh the revenue generated through the activity.
“As a legislator I struggle with this, as a pastor I really struggle with this,” Haroldson said.
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, conceded that off-track betting activities have an entertainment value, but pointed out that this gambling activity has far expanded this original purpose, and told the committee, “We’ve got to get a handle on it.”
“When we open that door … now we’ve got to clean that closet,” Haroldson said. “That’s not one closet, that’s four closets, that’s five closets.”
Most recently, the Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee was the home committee for gaming bills, but leadership in this committee communicated earlier on Tuesday they don’t have time to address these issues in the upcoming interim session.
Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, said the state is leaving “too much money on the table” when it comes to taxing gaming in Wyoming.
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, voted against creating the committee. Bear told Cowboy State Daily he’s only interested in legislative action that restricts the activity of legal gaming in Wyoming rather than finds ways to make more money off it.
“I don’t think we’re in need of more revenue sources,” he said. “I would rather get in better charge of the ones we already have.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
