Back from the dead: House passes bill banning ‘gray machines’
Five days after the House voted to set it aside, a bill banning so-called ‘gray machines’ from Kentucky easily passed the House on Wednesday in a vote of 64-32.
Last Friday, a motion to table the bill succeeded on a thin margin, 42-35, showcasing a rare division in a usually united 80-member Republican caucus.
Often referred to as ‘skill games’ by proponents and ‘gray machines’ by opponents, thousands of them have flooded convenience stores, gas stations and bars across the state in recent years – the most popular brand being Burning Barrel by the company Pace-O-Matic.
The makers of the machines say they are “games of skill” that require the player to do more than push a button.
Public pushback against the bill has largely been funded by the horse industry via the lobbying organization Kentuckians Against Illegal Gambling (KAIG). Horse racing companies like industry giant Churchill Downs have in recent years benefitted greatly from the 2021 legalization of slot-lke Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines, where bettors wager on slot-like games that simulate past horse races.
The Kentucky Merchants and Amusement Coalition (KY MAC) was formed by industry partners and enjoys the support of many establishment owners. Combined, KY MAC and KAIG have spent well over $300,000 on advertising for and against the bill in just the month of January, according to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission.
House Bill 594 sponsor Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington, was recently the subject of a 30-second ad criticizing him for his vote against a ban on transgender girls in girls sports on Fox News in the Lexington area. That led some observers to suggest that the timing of the ad could have something to do with Timoney’s lead role on House Bill 594.
KAIG took a victory lap after the vote on Wednesday.
“This was the right decision to protect Kentucky’s future. We urge the Senate to quickly follow suit and stop the massive proliferation of illegal gray machine gambling that is threatening the safety of Kentucky families and communities. Passing HB 594 is the only certain and viable option to prevent every restaurant, gas station and convenience store in the Commonwealth from becoming a mini casino,” a statement from the organization said.
KY MAC lamented the vote. They said that the issue comes down to the interests of big business, represented by Churchill Downs, against small business, represented by the scores of smaller shops that host ‘gray machines.’
“It’s no secret that this is a Churchill Downs-backed bill. While they seek to ban a few skill games that are helping struggling small businesses they simultaneously pushed a bill that gives the tracks exclusive rights to sports wagering – which, ironically, passed in committee today,” KY MAC President Wes Jackson said in a statement. “We are hopeful that our supporters in the Senate will put this dangerous ban bill to rest, putting the needs of actual Kentuckians, not the profits of big business, first.”
The sports betting bill, House Bill 551, does not give horse tracks exclusive rights to host sports betting. It does, however, give horse racing venues lower tax rates for the practice and gives regulatory power over sports betting to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
The motion to take the bill off the table and then give it passage out of the House was swift. House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, initiated the move, which was then challenged by House Democratic Floor Leader Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort. Graham’s challenge failed and the body quickly voted to take the bill from the table, 66-10.
With only one legislator briefly commenting on the bill before the vote, the House passed the ban 64-32.
Rep. Chris Fugate, R-Chavies, was one of the few legislators to speak before the vote to table the bill on Friday – then speaking on his conflict between being against the expansion of gambling but also against the perception of aiding the horse industry in gaining a “monopoly” over gambling.
Though the motion to table saw a majority of Republicans in support, the lion’s share of the GOP – 53 to 25 – voted in support of House Bill 594. Democrats in the 20-member House minority had expressed some hope that the contention within the Republican caucus would allow them to leverage their support for some legislative achievements, but the strong GOP support on Wednesday rendered their opinion moot. Still, a majority of Democrats also voted “yes” on the bill.
The Senate will now decide the bill’s fate. Last year, that body passed a similar bill 24-13, but added a floor amendment from Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, that the House was not able to agree with or resolve in time.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, did not comment on the Senate’s appetite to ban gray machines this year.
“If we discussed every House bill that was filed before it got here we’d be spending all our time on House bills and not doing Senate business,” Stivers said.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has signaled that he supports House Bill 594.
Herald-Leader Frankfort Bureau Chief Tessa Duvall contributed to reporting on this story.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 5:18 PM.
