MONTGOMERY — Legislation legalizing historical horse racing machines in Greene County received a public hearing in a House committee on Wednesday.
A vote on the bill by the committee is scheduled for next Wednesday.
Senate Bill 90, a local bill by Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro), would allow pari-mutuel wagering on historical horse racing computerized machines in Greene County.
Similar legislation passed the Senate in 2023 and 2024 but died in the House.
The bill is now in the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee after passing the Senate.
"This is the same bill that we came to you (with) last year, I think almost at the last end of session, and we are just renewing it. It got caught up on the last day of the calendar before we went home. This bill is a local bill for Greene County and Greene County only," Singleton said.
He continued, "In 1975,1977 GreeneTrack and the people of Greene County voted to have pari-mutuel in their community, so this has been going on for 40-some odd years over in Greene County. This is not anything new."
"What we are attempting to do is upgrade our statute. We're looking at some of the entities that receive money like hospitals, schools, what have you. We're upping the percentages of money that we're giving them. Some of those entities don't even exist anymore so we're taking them out, adding new entities to it so we can spread the wealth around in the community. It also gives us a definition of historical horse racing based on the fact that we are looking at historical horse racing and it is pari-mutuel in the state. It is considered pari-mutuel," Singleton added. "I tell people all the time: this is nothing new."
Eric Johnston, president of the Southeast Law Institute, said the bill was unconstitutional because it raises revenue and started in the Senate, and because it changes the definition of pari-mutuel wagering.
"Last year's bill was a CA. This year's bill is a local bill. What this bill does is it purports to say that we're going to define pari-mutuel and we're going to get some new revenue. Substantial new revenue provisions are in the bill. The main thing that it does is it redefines pari-mutuel wagering," Johnston said.
He continued, "What this does, this is a local bill. It tries to amend the pari mutuel statute, the law in Greene County, to allow computerized gambling. It also raises revenues. Significant portions of this bill change the revenue structure. That would also need to (begin) in the House."
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