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Senate committee hears bill to ban wagering on greyhound and other dog races
Summary
House Bill 3020A would bar anyone in Oregon from accepting or facilitating wagers on greyhound or other dog races held anywhere else, a change supporters say stops Oregon-based processing of bets on races with poor welfare records.
House Bill 3020A, introduced to the Senate Committee on Labor and Business on April 15, would prohibit any person or business from accepting or facilitating wagers on the outcome of a greyhound or other dog race, regardless of where the race takes place. Representative David Gomberg, who carried the measure on the House floor, told the committee the bill was intended to close a loophole that allows bets placed in Oregon on races hosted in other jurisdictions.
The bill “prohibits any person from wagering on the outcome of a greyhound or other dog race or accept or facilitate such wagering regardless of the location where the race takes place,” Representative David Gomberg said, adding that the measure makes “other conforming and technical amendments.” Gomberg told the committee he first supported a similar change three years earlier and that while Oregon no longer hosts dog racing, the state’s wagering hubs process bets from tracks in other countries and states.
Why it matters: animal-welfare advocates said wagering sustains an industry with documented welfare problems; industry witnesses warned the restriction would cause modest but tangible revenue losses for Oregon’s horse-racing ecosystem and for small off-track betting businesses.
Advocates detailed alleged harms. Kerri Teal, representing a national greyhound protection nonprofit, cited industry reports and alleged injuries and violations at tracks that supply wagers taken in Oregon, saying, “there were 10,542 greyhound injuries that occurred at those tracks,” and listing drug positives and cases of misconduct reported in industry records.
The Oregon Racing Commission’s executive director, Connie Winn, explained the governor asked the agency to pursue ending acceptance of greyhound wagers and corrected one factual point in testimony: “currently we do not have any South America tracks” supplying wagers via Oregon hubs. Rich Angstrom, speaking for the Oregon Quarter Horse Racing Association and the Oregon Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said the horse-racing industry supports the ban but noted a companion bill (HB 3101) is intended to backfill lost revenue. He said legislative negotiators estimated the horse industry could lose about $1,800,000 and the racing commission about $200,000 per biennium if bets tied to greyhound wagering disappear.
Committee members asked whether the loss in wagering revenue could cascade through the industry. Winn and Angstrom said the distribution of wagers — many flowing through large online advance-deposit wagering (ADW) companies and some through local off-track betting shops — makes the financial outcome uncertain. Winn said one ADW has already stopped offering greyhound wagering in anticipation of change and that if additional ADWs leave, a fiscal statement estimates a potential $2.3 million biennial impact, which would reduce about $450,000 currently transferred to the general fund.
Opponents and some former industry participants testified in opposition or caution. Don Wansley, who described himself as a longtime trainer and adopter of retired greyhounds, urged the committee to investigate and to speak with colleagues in West Virginia, arguing extreme depictions of the industry are not universally representative. “I was personally…involved in about 15,000 races…out of those 15,000 races, I had 2 major injuries,” Wansley said to illustrate his view that harms are not ubiquitous.
No committee vote was taken during the public hearing. Committee Chair Taylor closed the hearing and moved on to other agenda items and work sessions. The bill summary in committee materials notes the measure would become operative on July 1, 2027, and that the House fiscal statement describes a minimal revenue impact to the state but identifies potential fiscal consequences to the racing commission and the horse-racing sector that the Legislature has discussed addressing through companion measures.
Ending note: Committee staff and bill sponsors said they are coordinating related bills to address potential revenue impacts to county fair races and the horse industry; committee members asked staff to flag follow-up fiscal and rulemaking needs for the Oregon Racing Commission.
