Legislators pass bill to replace Ky. Horse Racing Commission

Both houses of the Kentucky legislature have passed a bill to overhaul the regulation of horse racing in the state, after a vote late Thursday night. The bill will create a new body called the Kentucky Gaming and Horse Racing Corporation to replace the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

The bill that was sent to Democrat governor Andy Beshear was primarily sponsored by Senate majority floor leader Damon Thayer. The vote was reported first by Thoroughbred Daily News. 

The corporation will be independent of other government departments. Under an earlier draft of the bill it had been connected to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, but it was revised to make it an independent public agency under the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Currently, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission oversees horse racing and historical horse racing machines. Under the proposed bill, the Kentucky Gaming and Horse Racing Corporation would eventually have authority over all forms of gaming in Kentucky except for the state lottery.

Current members of the horse racing commission would be moved to the corporation effective July 1. Kentucky's charitable gaming department is slated to end in summer 2025 with its commissioners folded into the new corporation. Going forward, corporate board members would be appointed by the governor. These appointees would require both Kentucky Senate approval as well as oversight by Kentucky's executive-branch ethics commission.

The Kentucky legislature has made the full bill and its legislative history available for review.