Wyoming Lawmakers Resurrect the Plan to Establish a State Gambling Commission

Wyoming lawmakers have resurrected the plan for establishing a state gambling commission.

The Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation and Cultural Resources Committee had nixed the idea of a regulatory body to oversee everything from poker games to sports betting.

The state Pari-Mutuel Commission is currently overseeing gambling in Wyoming and regulates only horse racing. Horse racing accounts for roughly $12 million in state and local taxes annually.

Republican Sen. Ogden Driskill made a Management Council motion to form a task force to examine expanding the commission’s oversight.

A similar proposal failed in the Legislature this year. Driskill says Wyoming is not currently regulating gambling “and doing nothing is going to lead to bad results.”