In today’s debate on SB 1011, the bill to repeal authorization for instant racing in Idaho:

Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, said, “I agree that machines being used in various locations in our state violate our state Constitution. … That’s not my concern with the bill.” He said in his view, the bill passed by the Legislature in 2013 to authorize betting on “historical horse racing” didn’t authorize the slot machine-like terminals that have turned up in response. “It allows historical horse racing that complies with our state Constitution,” he said. “I wonder whether what we have is a statutory problem with the statute that we passed, or an administrative problem with the rules that have been made and some people’s actions to go beyond our statute, outside its bounds and outside the bounds of our state Constitution to do something else. Which I think becomes an enforcement issue and a regulatory issue. … What we’re repealing doesn’t actually authorize what we’re seeing.”

Acting Sen. Kimberly Johnson, who’s filling in for Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, also spoke against the bill. She first disclosed a potential conflict of interest because she’s involved in the horse industry. "There is a current investigation under way by law enforcement officials already," she said. "And I would think that the rule of law should be allowed to take its natural course," to determine the legality of the current machines. She called it "ludicrous" that the bill's statement of fiscal impact said there would be none. "My emails and phone calls are running 30-1 against repealing historic racing," Johnson said. She called for a "compromise on this issue instead of seeking to cause harm to a segment of our economy."

Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, who just today was named to the state Tax Commission and will be leaving the Senate, said, “This is a mess. … There is no way around our Idaho Constitution.” He said he played an instant racing machine at Les Bois Park. “It is a simulated slot machine – take my word for it,” Werk said. "There is no doubt that these machines don't meet the requirements of our Constitution. ... Those machines need to go, and the avenue for doing that is the repeal of the statute. Now, maybe there are other options once the statute is repealed to do other things in other ways. But we're where we are today, and that's all there is."