Horsemen’s groups in Idaho say they will be submitting legislation to state lawmakers that they hope will help keep horseracing alive in the state.
Without releasing details on the proposed bill they did disclose that it would contain language about “instant horse racing,” a very contentious issue in the state among gaming tribes who say that such machines look too much slot machines. The machines allow wagering on past horse races where identifying data has been removed.
The bill, says Clayton Russell of the Idaho Quarter Horse Association, would put instant horse racing under a state commission to be created that would sweep in other forms of gaming, including the lottery, dog racing and Indian casinos.
Two years ago racetracks persuaded lawmakers to adopt a law that allowed them to deploy instant racing machines at their tracks. The appearance of the machines persuaded the state’s gaming tribes, led by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, who have a monopoly on slot machines, to demand that lawmakers revisit the issue.
They did, passing a law the banned the machines. Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter vetoed the legislation, only to have his veto challenged in court because he submitted it past the legal deadline. His veto was overturned.
The machines now sit unused and dark at the tracks and the horsemen’s group wants the legislature to revisit the issue that they revisited last year.
“We think we can change lawmakers’ minds,” said Russell. “I don’t think some of them realize what they did to us last year.”
Some form of slot machines is seen as the only way to keep racetracks alive by many in the industry.
They haven’t seen Otter come to their rescue at the beginning of the legislative session with any proposals to help them. Otter said recently that he didn’t want to be involved in fights that he can’t win. “We haven’t got our arms around of what’s doable,” he said. But he does support creating a gaming commission that might oversee instant horse racing.
