Committee weighs local control, potential moratorium on Wyoming gambling locations

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s Select Committee on Gaming on Friday continued to discuss the issue of granting more local authority in new gambling locations.

This time, however, a conversation arose of approaching the matter differently, by maintaining the status quo of authority through the Wyoming Gaming Commission to issue permits, instead of counties or municipalities, and instead approaching local control through zoning rules.

Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne, put forth an amendment to the bill draft that would cut the section granting local authority for issuing simulcasting permits.

Johnson proposed that local authorities could deter businesses, if they choose, through zoning or land-use regulation changes.

He said his reasoning was rooted in free market values, adding it would avoid corruption in local politics if elected officials have the authority to determine whether a certain business can come to their community.

Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, said this change would just maintain the status quo and not offer new solutions to a system that needs to be addressed. He agreed that he doesn’t want local corruption, but said the downside is greater than the upside with this change.

“We do have that, and it’s out of control, and that’s why we’re talking about a bill to try to get control,” he said.

“... My two cents is, if we put this in here, we kill this bill. That’s what happens. And the purpose of us being here goes away for this year,” he added.

Further, Kolb argued that it would be time consuming and confusing for the task force to gut the local authority section of the bill draft and add in new regulations regarding zoning or land use rules.

When Johnson’s amendment was shot down by the voting members of the task force, Rep. Jayme Lien, R-Casper, proposed the Legislative Service Office draft a separate bill for the task force’s next meeting that would approach granting local authority through those avenues Johnson suggested, maintaining ultimate permitting control within the WGC.

Though Kolb voted against this motion, it was still passed, and the task force will consider both bill drafts at its meeting in Cheyenne next month.

Matt Hall, legislative director for the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, said he likes the existing bill draft as it is written.

“As far as municipalities go, I think quite a few of them don’t have specific zoning parts and ordinances that would address the gaming aspect of things. So, I think they’d have to create those,” he said.

Jerimiah Reiman, executive director of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, added it is his sense that counties already have the zoning power that is being discussed.

He also said that around half of the counties in Wyoming do not have zoning regulations, and he suspects they would not create zoning regulations anytime soon.

“If that’s the path that you go, that means that (those counties) will have no ability to have a say in whether these establishments should or shouldn’t exist, how they should exist, where they should exist, etc.,” he said.

Halt on new gambling locations

Following this discussion, the select committee moved on to a bill draft that would place a three-year moratorium on new gambling locations and machines being built in Wyoming.

If approved by the Legislature next year, this would go into effect April 1, 2026, and end March 31, 2029.

Kolb described this draft bill as a “fail-safe mechanism” in case other legislation is not signed into law regarding gambling in Wyoming.

The stakeholders representing the newest operator in the market, Cowboy Racing, opposed this move. 

Cowboy Racing is currently constructing the Thunder Plains live horse racing track east of Cheyenne, with hopes to fund most of its investment through off-track betting facilities. It is set to begin running live races next year.

Though the company would have several months to apply and be approved for those locations, it would be prohibited from doing so beginning next April.

Affie Ellis, legal counsel for Cowboy Racing, said she has serious concerns with this bill draft.

Before suggesting an alternative, she provided statistics from the other operators in Wyoming. She said, in total, those companies have been approved to host 3,125 gambling machines but only have 2,144 in operation currently.

“Cowboy Racing, the new guy, they’ve applied for 289 machines, literally a tenth of what their competitors are offering,” she said.

Her alternative solution requested those companies be required to build out those machines before being allowed to apply for new ones.

Will Edwards, co-owner of Thunder Plains and Cowboy Racing, said that just a whisper of a moratorium causes grave concern regarding his investment. He said it could impact the investment his company has made in electrical infrastructure in Laramie County, potentially not being able to hold up his end of the deal if the moratorium were put in place.

“It allows existing operators to rest on their laurels and not have that competition that drives progress and drives new innovations and better product in the market,” he said.

The motion to carry forward discussion of this bill draft passed, and it will also be discussed at the task force’s next meeting.

Members of the committee said they will request adding a second day to their September meeting, which is currently only scheduled for one day, to hash out these two bill drafts, along with several other issues.

This story was published on August 9, 2025.