The Select Committee on Gaming spent the bulk of its Aug. 8 meeting discussing local control provisions in working draft 26 LSO-01-45, the draft bill that would change how municipalities and counties interact with the Wyoming Gaming Commission on permits for simulcasting and historic-horse-racing terminals.

Why it matters: The draft would alter local authority over where and whether gaming facilities can operate. Committee members sharply disagreed over whether local governments should retain an explicit permitting role tied to licensing decisions, or instead exercise control only through zoning or conditional-use processes — a difference that members said could change legal exposure and the ease with which communities could limit or allow gaming activity.

Members spent more than two hours on the question. Representative Johnson argued for a zoning-based approach, saying local governments should “zone rather than approve” and that “local control should be that the counties and the cities would zone rather than approve.” He and others said zoning would let communities specify where gaming can occur without inserting local licensing discretion that could be subject to lawsuits.

Opponents said switching to zoning would strip away meaningful local control and carry substantial legal risk. One committee member with county-commission experience said zoning-based control “would essentially lose all local control” because property owners who buy zoned land often have a legal right to the permitted use; rescinding that use later could create takings claims and litigation. That member also noted precedent — court decisions such as the Campbell and Sweetwater County rulings were cited in committee discussion — showing how litigation has raised complex limits on local authority.

Committee actions and outcome: The group considered a motion (moved and seconded) that would have struck language in subsection g of the draft that established a local approving authority and would have left local control to land-use/zoning mechanisms. After extended debate, the motion failed on a voice vote. The committee then voted to carry the current working draft forward to the next meeting in its present form. By voice vote the task force also directed the Legislative Service Office (LSO) to prepare a second, alternative bill draft that would implement local control via zoning and conditional-use permitting and that would propose a statutory permit cap tied to race-track permits (chairs asked LSO to draft permitting that would authorize up to 1,200 historic-horse-racing machines per racetrack as a starting placeholder). The task force asked LSO to work with local entities while preparing that second draft.

Discussion details and concerns: Committee members repeatedly flagged unintended consequences. Opponents said zoning could create grandfathered uses and takings exposure, while proponents said zoning/conditional-use approaches could avoid the “good-old-boy” local licensing deals the draft seeks to prevent. Representatives of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (Matt Hall) and the Wyoming County Commissioners Association (Jeremiah Ryman, appearing remotely) told the committee that many counties in Wyoming do not currently have zoning and that municipal zoning standards vary; both groups urged caution about relying solely on zoning as a uniform fix.

Where it goes from here: The committee left the working draft in place and asked LSO to deliver a companion zoning-style bill for further study before the next meeting; members indicated they may consider both bills in parallel.

Ending: The debate underscored that the core policy choice — local permitting tied to licensing versus land‑use zoning — will determine how much control communities keep and how much litigation risk is created. Members asked LSO, local government groups and the gaming commission to help draft language before the next meeting so the task force can compare the two approaches side-by-side.