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Senate committee hears bill modernizing horse-racing rules, pari-mutuel rates
Summary
The Senate committee heard House Bill 13-27, a package of updates from the Washington State Horse Racing Commission that would modernize governance rules, alter pari-mutuel tax treatment and permit new grant and wagering flexibilities; commission officials said the changes update decades-old statute.
House Bill 13-27, which the Washington State Horse Racing Commission requested, was presented to the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming & Trade Committee as a modernization of the state's horse-racing statutes.
Clint McCarthy, committee staff, summarized the bill’s provisions, saying it “defines the term pari-mutuel wagering” and makes multiple governance and operational changes to the commission’s authority. Among the proposed changes are dropping the requirement that one of three commissioners be a breeder, restricting commission employees from working simultaneously at racetracks they oversee, permitting commissioners to wager on out-of-state simulcast races not under commission jurisdiction, and authorizing the commission to disperse excess funds to equine nonprofits through a grant process.
The bill would also remove an existing provision that paid half of one percent collected from new licensees to reimburse capital costs for constructing new race tracks, lift the statutory upper limit on the number of live races per day, and adjust license fee and withholding thresholds. McCarthy noted the commission may increase certain spending for equine industry development from $300,000 to $500,000 per fiscal year and that a fiscal note is available.
Representative Schmick, the prime sponsor, urged support and described the measure as updating statute to reflect current industry practices. “This simply updates the statute that really reflects the current state of horse racing,” Schmick said.
Amanda Benton, executive secretary of the Horse Racing Commission, told the committee the bill is a regulatory cleanup and identical to Senate Bill 5563, which the committee previously considered. Doug Moore, commission chair, said many provisions date from an era with multiple racetracks and that standardizing the pari-mutuel tax rate and other provisions will make budgeting and operations easier. “We haven’t updated the RCWs probably in 20 years,” Moore said, arguing the changes would modernize language and align rules with the current single-racetrack reality.
Senators questioned whether the measure amounted to minor cleanup or a larger overhaul; commission witnesses said the intent is modernization to match contemporary operations, not to create new racetracks.
The committee paused consideration of House Bill 13-27 after testimony; no committee vote was recorded during the hearing.
