The Select Committee on Gaming voted to advance a bill that would update state law governing simulcasting and historic horse racing permits, after restoring a 100‑mile restriction and adopting several amendments, the committee chair announced. The motion to move the bill (26 LSO 0145) was made by Kolb and seconded by Crago; the roll call vote was 5 ayes and 1 no. The committee directed that the draft be presented to management council in November.

Committee members said the bill matters because it clarifies local and state roles for approving simulcasting and historic horse racing activity, updates notice requirements for applications, and creates new grounds local officials may cite for denial or revocation. Those changes will affect where and how simulcasting and historic-horse-racing terminals operate in Wyoming.

During committee discussion Director Laramendi of the Wyoming Gaming Commission described how the commission monitors off‑track betting locations and enforces the 100‑mile restriction. He said all locations must file incident reports when local law enforcement or emergency services respond, and the commission maintains a compliance team that can be deployed to investigate and monitor camera feeds. He also explained the commission’s operational practice for enforcing the 100‑mile rule: race operators provide a “condition book” with post times; locations without agreements are required to suspend wagering 10 minutes before the first post and remain closed until an investigator confirms the last race is official.

Committee members debated whether to keep or repeal the 100‑mile rule. Senator Bridal moved to insert language modeled by LSO to retain the 100‑mile rule; after debate that amendment passed. The committee also adopted a conforming amendment to change the required newspaper notice for applications from “local” circulation to “general” circulation — language Tamara of the LSO said would align the bill with other statutes and help account for the decline of some local newspapers.

Members also added an amendment adding a new ground for denying renewal or revoking a permit that would apply when “the welfare of the people residing in the jurisdiction where the permitted premises is located is adversely and seriously affected by the permitted premises.” That amendment was offered as a placeholder pending further stakeholder work, and proponents said it returns some local levers to address “bad actors.”

Representative Johnson spoke at length while offering and clarifying several line edits and deletion attempts; one deletion motion failed for lack of a second. After the committee completed page‑by‑page review and votes on amendments, Co‑Chair Lee called for the roll call on the motion to move the bill. LSO read the roll; votes recorded were: Senator Craigo — aye; Senator McKeown — aye; Representative Johnson — no; Representative Webb — aye; Co‑Chair Cole — aye; Co‑Chair Lee — aye. The committee reported the bill will be presented to management council in November.

The draft that advanced retains rulemaking language for the Gaming Commission, preserves an applicability clause protecting some existing permit conditions until renewal, and sets an effective date for most sections of July 1, 2026, while allowing the commission to begin rulemaking immediately.

The committee closed public comment on this bill before the vote and directed staff to include the amendments passed.