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Management Council sponsors several gaming bill drafts after hours of debate
Summary
After extended testimony from industry and local officials, the Management Council voted to sponsor multiple gaming-related bill drafts for the 2026 session, including gambling-definition amendments and local simulcasting approval, while a proposal to cap historic-horse-racing terminals failed on a close vote.
The Management Council on Nov. 18 voted to sponsor a package of gaming-related bill drafts for the 2026 budget session after a lengthy presentation by the Select Committee on Gaming and sustained public testimony.
Senator Cole, co-chair of the select committee, told members the drafts address statutory ambiguities that have hampered enforcement and local control. He highlighted Draft 169, which tightens definitions such as "bona fide social relationship" and the definition of profit to make prosecutions of illegal gaming clearer, and said the package grew out of a task force's effort to respond to cases where terminals and skill-based games appeared in venues such as grocery stores.
Why it matters: law enforcement and prosecutors told the committee they need clearer statutory language to pursue organized or commercial gaming operations, while local officials and new industry entrants…
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