Few originally gave the bill that creates a Wyoming Gaming Commission much of a chance for passage. But optimists won out. The long-shot legislation was approved recently by the legislature and will become law July 1, 2021.
It is one of several bills that have been proposed in recent years. All recognized that the Wild West nature of gaming in the Cowboy State had reached a pressure point that required that someone take action.
It’s essentially the same bill that was defeated two years ago in a narrow vote. Observers of the political scene in Wyoming attribute the revival of the bill to three factors:
- An opinion by former Attorney General Peter Michael in December 2018 that the “skill games” that were proliferating out of control in various jurisdictions were illegal under state law. When that opinion was released there were hundreds of the machines deployed in dozens of bars across the state. Most were machines manufactured by Banilla Games.
- When the opinion was released hundreds of bar owners realized that they could be prosecuted for operating the machines. They soon began pressuring the state to adopt a law that would enable them to operate legally.
- The state needed the money. How much that will be is unknown because no one knows how many “skill games” are operating in the state.
At the time Michael wrote, “These machines are illegal gambling devices under Wyoming law. Those who play them are engaged in gambling, which is a crime in Wyoming, and those who provide the games are engaged in professional gambling, which is also a crime in Wyoming.”
All those games, however many there are, will be under the new gaming commission, which will also oversee the existing pari-mutuel commission.
Game operators will be required to first get a decal from the commission, and then pay $2,500 to operate until the new commission is empaneled. They will also pay 20 percent tax on receipts. These funds will be used to fund the new commission. Some will also be directed toward local government and education.
The original bill from 2018 died from anonymous opposition that was later identified as the Northern Arapaho Tribe, one of two tribes in the state that operate Indian casinos.
Last September the bill was pushed by Senator Ogden Driskill, co-chairman of the Travel, Recreation Wildlife and Natural Resources Committee. The committee stripped out some provisions that had targeted bingo, pull-tabs and fraternal groups such as the Knights of Columbus, and most of the opposition dried up.
One of the jobs that the new commission will be tasked with is conducting a study of gaming and present to lawmakers possible regulation of all forms of gaming, including sports betting, skill-based games and video gaming.
