Senate amends, combines dog-racing bills; combo bill passes 34-0

An amended version of two different House-passed bills on dog racing – one allowing an exception from Idaho’s strict ban on dog racing for non-betting exhibition races at county fair side shows, and another allowing an exception for sled-dog racing and training – has passed the Senate on a unanimous vote. Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, told the Senate, “The communities and the dogs will thank you.”

The Senate amended HB 104 , which dealt with the county fair side-shows, and combined it with HB 151 , the sled-dog bill, in part to fix some wording in HB 104, and in part because HB 151 hadn’t specified that no betting is permitted on sled-dog races.

The combo bill, HB 104aas (which stands for “as amended in the Senate”), now must go back to the House for concurrence in the amendments.