After losing a drawn out legal battle over so-called “instant racing,” state and tribal officials in Idaho don’t anticipate a reprise of the measure.
State lawmakers don’t have another measure in the works, and tribal leaders say the Supreme Court made its ruling against instant racing, so the matter is dead to them, unless state lawmakers choose to give it another try.
But with Idaho Governor Butch Otter successfully vetoing the prior measure that enabled instant racing, a new legislative measure is unlikely, and Otter’s deputy chief of staff, Bobbijo Meuleman, said there is nothing new in the works.
Otter supports creating a gaming commission in Idaho, but some tribal leaders say the state already has a racing commission and a lottery commission, so creating a new gaming commission is unnecessary.
The Idaho Lottery Commission regulates tribal gaming in accordance with a gaming compact. It also oversees bingo and other types of gambling other than the lottery, and many tribal leaders say they have a good relationship with the Lottery Commission and don’t want a new regulatory body.
Instant racing is a form of electronic gaming in which bettors wager on horse and dog races that already have been run, and some instant racing terminals look like slot machines.
