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Eye On Boise

Debate: ‘Integrity of the process,’ ‘This is not the way to do it,’ ‘A disconnect’

In continuing debate in the Idaho Senate today on SB 1011, to repeal 'instant racing': 

Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said, “For me this is about integrity of the process. We were persuaded to pass this legislation based on representations that were made. What was delivered was not what was represented. These machines are not like simulcasting. You’re not betting on the same race. There’s no use of skill and horsemanship. ... I don’t think you get to sell us a horse and then deliver a pig in the mud.” Lakey what was described to the Legislature two years ago was something that was constitutional, but what was delivered was not. When he played a machine at Les Bois Park, he said, “It was a slot machine.”

Sen. Roy Lacey, D-Pocatello, said, "The horse racing industry has been suffering for a long time. ... Sometimes in desperation, some people try to turn their heads, and I think the horse racing industry is in desperation right now." He said, "I think the horsemen were probably surprised too at the kind of machines that came in, and they want to turn their heads. Out of desperation they want to do something to support the tracks. But this is not the way to do it." 

Sen. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, said he's seeing "a disconnect." He said, "I have heard questions about some machines, maybe not all, and the constitutionality." But he said he hasn't heard that the statute that was passed was unconstitutional. "We don't have constitutional issues with the language that's currently in code," he said. "Whether one likes it or not, there are business investments, there are entrepreneurial efforts. ... We have regulatory avenues to take. ... We have judicial avenues to take in cases like this." 



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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