Wyoming House Bill HB0085

Wyoming 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Report Pass: 2/3/25
• Engrossed: 2/6/25
• Failed: 2/28/25

Caption

Local approval for simulcasting.

Summary

HB0085 revises Wyoming’s pari-mutuel wagering laws to create a detailed local-approval process for simulcasting permits and renewals. The bill requires the Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission to issue simulcasting permits only to otherwise eligible pari-mutuel operators, but makes those permits subject to approval by a city, town, or county depending on where the simulcasting facility is located. It also requires public notice, allows local authorities to hold hearings on protests, and lets them impose reasonable conditions on approval, including operating hours and the placement of historic horse racing machines, so long as those conditions do not conflict with commission rules. The bill also sets standards for denial, revocation, and renewal. Local authorities may revoke approval or deny renewal only for specified good cause, such as failure to cure a breach of conditions, violation of certain gaming laws, or failure to begin simulcasting within two years. Applicants may appeal adverse renewal or revocation decisions to district court, but there is no appeal right for a new applicant denied local approval. The bill further provides that existing simulcasting facilities may continue operating through June 30, 2026, before becoming subject to the new approval framework, and it makes the act effective July 1, 2025.

Impact

HB0085 amends Wyoming statutes governing pari-mutuel wagering, including definitions and permit provisions in Title 11, Chapter 25, by adding a new section specifically regulating simulcasting permits and local government involvement. It creates new procedural duties for applicants, local approving authorities, and the commission, and it repeals certain existing simulcasting-related statutory provisions to conform with the new framework. The bill also affects the operation and oversight of historic horse racing machines at simulcasting facilities by tying their placement to local approval conditions and commission rules.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported in the House. It passed the House Travel Committee unanimously on an amend-and-do-pass recommendation, 8-0, and then passed third reading in the House 61-0. That voting history suggests little overt opposition in the recorded proceedings and a general consensus in favor of the measure’s approach to local control and regulatory clarification.

Contention

The main policy tension in HB0085 is between statewide regulation and local control. Supporters appear to favor giving cities, towns, and counties a formal role in approving simulcasting facilities, while limiting that role to reasonable conditions and defined grounds for denial or revocation. Potential points of contention include the scope of local authority over operating hours and machine placement, the restriction that new applicants have no right of appeal from a local denial, and the bill’s transition rule that gives existing facilities temporary protection before the new local-approval requirements fully apply in 2026.