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23LSO-0284
2023
STATE OF WYOMING
23LSO-0284
Numbered
2.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0287
Gaming districts and amendments.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Harshman and Yin and Senator(s) Pappas and Schuler
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to gaming; authorizing the establishment of gaming districts as specified; specifying the type of gaming activities that may take place in gaming districts; authorizing the entry of agreements with gaming operators to operate within gaming districts; requiring the remittance of specified gaming revenue to the state; providing for the distribution of remitted gaming revenue; providing definitions; specifying exceptions to and amending prohibitions on gambling and gaming; amending gaming requirements; making conforming amendments; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
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W.S. 9
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24
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201 through 9
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24
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204 are created to read:
ARTICLE 2
GAMING DISTRICTS
9
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24
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201.
Definitions
(a)
As used in this article:
(i)
"Board" means the board of land commissioners;
(ii)
"Cash equivalent" means as defined by W.S. 9
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24
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101(a)(i);
(iii)
"Charitable or nonprofit organization" means as defined by W.S. 6
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7
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101(a)(xi);
(iv)
"Commission" means the Wyoming gaming commission;
(v)
"Game" means a banking or percentage game or wager played with cards, dice, tiles, dominoes or an electronic, electrical or mechanical device or machine played for money, property, checks, credit or any other representative of value. "Game" does not include:
(A)
Pari
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mutuel events as defined by W.S. 11
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25
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102(a)(v); or
(B)
Skill
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based amusement games as defined by W.S. 11
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25
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102(a)(xix).
(vi)
"Gaming activities" mean Las Vegas casino
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style gaming, including dealing, operating, carrying on, conducting, maintaining or exposing any game for pay. "Gaming activities" do not include online wagering or betting except for online sports wagering regulated under W.S. 9
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24
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101 through 9
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106;
(vii)
"Gaming activity revenue" means the total of all wagers placed by patrons with a gaming operator on gaming activities occurring within a gaming district, excluding free wagers and promotional pay, minus all payments to patrons and minus any applicable federal or state taxes. Payments to patrons include all payments of cash, cash equivalents, merchandise and any other thing of value;
(viii)
"Gaming district" means a geographic area of state land or private land that is:
(A)
Located in a county in Wyoming where there is a metropolitan area with a population of not less than two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) inhabitants within one hundred (100) miles of the county's borders; and
(B)
Designated as land on which a gaming operator may conduct gaming activities in accordance with this article.
(ix)
"Gaming facility" means a building in which gaming activities of not less than one hundred (100) games are lawfully conducted by a gaming operator under federal law, state law or both;
(x)
"Gaming license" means a license issued by the commission that permits a gaming operator to operate or conduct gaming activities at a gaming facility in a gaming district;
(xi)
"Gaming operator" means a person or entity that:
(A)
Maintains its principal place of business in the state of Wyoming, including on the reservations of federally recognized Indian tribes located within Wyoming;
(B)
Has lawfully operated two (2) or more gaming facilities in Wyoming, including on the reservations of federally recognized Indian tribes located within Wyoming, under federal law, state law or both for not less than ten (10) years; and
(C)
Is not one (1) of the following:
(I)
A charitable or nonprofit organization;
(II)
An operator as defined by W.S. 11
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25
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102(a)(xvii);
(III)
A person that conducts or operates pari
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mutuel events as defined by W.S. 11
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25
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102(a)(v).
(xii)
"Private land" means land that is:
(A)
Located in the state of Wyoming;
(B)
Not owned by a federal or state governmental entity; and
(C)
Is on the tax rolls in the county where the land is located.
(xiii)
"State land" means as defined by W.S. 36
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1
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101(a)(iv).
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24
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202.
Gaming districts; formation; location.
(a)
A gaming operator may conduct gaming activities in gaming districts in accordance with the following:
(i)
A gaming operator seeking to conduct gaming activities on state land shall:
(A)
Submit an application to the board for the establishment of a gaming district. The board may require from the gaming operator to provide any information reasonably necessary to ensure that the gaming operator may be authorized to conduct gaming activities in the gaming district;
(B)
Enter into a lease with the board to occupy the parcels constituting the gaming district. Any lease entered into under this article shall be in accordance with title 36 of the Wyoming statutes, provided that a lease entered into under this article may be for a period not to exceed ninety
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nine (99) years.
(ii)
A gaming operator seeking to conduct gaming activities on private land shall submit an application to the commission for the establishment of a gaming district. The commission may require any information from the gaming operator that is reasonably necessary for the commission to ensure that the gaming operator is authorized to conduct gaming activities in the gaming district;
(iii)
Not more than two (2) gaming districts shall be established or approved by either the board or commission under this section. Not more than two (2) gaming districts shall operate in the state at any one (1) time. Not more than one (1) gaming district shall operate in any one (1) county.
(b)
No gaming operator authorized to conduct gaming activities in a gaming district established under this article shall conduct any other gaming or gambling activities in the gaming district, whether the activity is authorized under state law or not.
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24
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203.
Gaming districts; operations; authorized gaming; regulation.
(a)
A gaming operator shall conduct gaming activities in a gaming district in accordance with the following:
(i)
A gaming operator shall possess and maintain a valid gaming license;
(ii)
All gaming operations and facilities authorized shall be owned or leased solely by the gaming operator;
(iii)
No person under the age of twenty
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one (21) years shall engage in gaming activities at a facility located within a gaming district;
(iv)
The dispensing of alcoholic liquor and malt beverages at a facility located within a gaming district shall be in accordance with state law governing the licensure and dispensing of alcoholic liquor and malt beverages.
(b)
Any gaming operator seeking to obtain or renew a gaming license shall submit an application to the commission on a form prescribed by the commission.
(c)
Not later than sixty (60) days after receiving an application for a gaming license under this article, the commission shall:
(i)
Issue or renew the gaming license; or
(ii)
Deny the application based on the grounds that the gaming operator failed to meet the requirements of this article.
(d)
If the commission does not act or make a decision on an application within sixty (60) days as required by subsection (c) of this section, the application shall be deemed approved and the commission shall issue or renew the gaming license, unless:
(i)
The gaming operator or applicant and the commission agree to a reasonable extension for consideration of the application; or
(ii)
The gaming operator or applicant does not satisfy the definition of gaming operator in W.S. 9
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24
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201(a)(xi).
(e)
Upon approval of a gaming operator's application for a new gaming license, the commission shall issue a gaming license that is valid for five (5) years to the gaming operator and collect an initial fee of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) from the gaming operator for the issuance of the gaming license.
(f)
Upon approval of a gaming operator's application to renew an existing gaming license, the commission shall renew the gaming operator's gaming license for five (5) years to the gaming operator and collect a renewal fee of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) from the gaming operator for the issuance of the gaming license.
(g)
Fees collected under subsections (e) and (f) of this section shall be distributed equally into the commission gaming account continued by W.S. 11
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25
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304(c) and the public school foundation program account.
(h)
If the commission denies an application or intends to revoke or suspend a gaming license issued under this article, the commission shall notify the gaming operator in writing, stating the grounds for denial, revocation or suspension and informing the gaming operator of a right to submit, within not more than thirty (30) days, any additional documentation relating to the grounds for denial, revocation or suspension. Upon receiving any additional documentation, the commission shall reconsider its decision and inform the gaming operator of its decision within not more than twenty (20) days of the submission of information for reconsideration. A denial of an application or a revocation or suspension of a gaming license under this article shall be subject to the contested case procedures of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.
(j)
The commission shall promulgate regulations for the implementation, administration and enforcement of this article. The commission shall be responsible for:
(i)
Licensing all persons or entities required to be licensed under state law;
(ii)
Conducting criminal history background information checks on persons to be licensed by the commission;
(iii)
Investigating any violation of this article or rules established by the commission for regulating gaming activities at a gaming facility in a gaming district;
(iv)
Inspecting public and private areas of a gaming facility located in a gaming district.
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204.
Distribution of revenue.
(a)
Each gaming operator operating in a gaming district under this article shall remit revenue to the commission as specified in subsection (b) of this section. The commission shall promulgate rules to ensure the accurate reporting of revenue by gaming operators and the proper remission of revenue to the commission. Each gaming operator shall report its revenue to the commission in accordance with commission rules.
(b)
Not later than the fifteenth day of each month, in accordance with commission rules, a gaming operator shall remit thirty
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five percent (35%) of gaming activity revenue from the prior month to the commission.
(c)
All revenue generated and submitted to the commission under this section shall be deposited as follows:
(i)
Ten percent (10%) of the revenue shall be distributed into an account for monthly distribution to counties in which a gaming district is located and the cities and towns in those counties. The distribution under this subparagraph shall be:
(A)
To the county for deposit into its general fund in the proportion that the population of the county situated outside the corporate limits of its cities and towns bears to the total population of the county;
(B)
To the incorporated cities and towns within the county for deposit into their treasuries in the proportion that the population of each city or town bears to the total population of the county.
(ii)
All remaining revenue not distributed under paragraph (i) of this subsection shall be deposited into the public school foundation program account.
Section 2.
W.S. 6
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7
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101(a)(iii) by creating a new subparagraph (P), 9
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24
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101(a)(intro), 11
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25
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104(d), (k) and by creating a new subsection (p) and 36
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2
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101 are amended to read:
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7
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101.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in this article:
(iii)
"Gambling" means risking any property for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, over which the person taking a risk has no control, but does not include any of the following:
(P)
Gaming activities conducted by a gaming operator in a gaming district in accordance with W.S. 9
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24
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201 through 9
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204.
9
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24
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101.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in this
chapter
article
:
11
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25
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104.
Gaming commission; officers; director; meetings; quorum; records; licenses generally; effect of financial interest in events.
(d)
Any member of the commission who owns or has any interest, or whose spouse or member of his immediate family has any interest
,
in any activity regulated by the commission
, any activity taking place in a gaming district as defined by W.S. 9
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24
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201(a)(vii)
or in an animal participating in a pari
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mutuel event shall disclose that interest and shall not participate in any commission decision involving a protest regarding that activity or occurring at that pari
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mutuel event.
(k)
The commission shall access criminal history record information for all operators and vendors under chapter 3 of this article
, any person required to be licensed under W.S. 9
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203
and all licensees, permittees and employees of the commission under W.S. 9
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1
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627(d) for the purposes of this act. Every applicant for a permit or license under this act shall provide the commission fingerprints and other information necessary for a criminal history record background check as provided under W.S. 7
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201.
(p)
The commission shall regulate gaming activities and the remission of revenue of gaming districts in accordance with W.S. 9
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24
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201 through 9
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204, provided that the regulation is authorized under federal law, state law or an agreement between a gaming operator and a state in accordance with W.S. 9
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24
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201 through 9
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24
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204.
36
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2
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101.
Composition; powers generally.
The governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, and superintendent of public instruction, being constituted a "board of land commissioners" by the provisions of section 3, article 18, of the constitution of the state of Wyoming, shall as such board, have the direction, control, leasing, care and disposal of all lands heretofore or hereafter granted or acquired by the state for the benefit and support of public schools or for any other purpose whatsoever, subject to the limitations contained in the constitution of the state, and the laws enacted by the legislature. The board shall have the power and authority to take such official action as may be necessary in securing title to land grants, or any other lands acquired by the state. The board shall oversee the compensatory mitigation credit system established under W.S. 9
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201 through 9
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204 and shall promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with W.S. 9
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201 through 9
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204.
The board shall have the authority to establish gaming districts and enter into leases with gaming operators to conduct gaming activities in gaming districts in accordance with W.S. 9
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201 through 9
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204.
Section 3.
The Wyoming gaming commission shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.
Section 4.
(a)
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
(b)
Sections 1 and 2 of this act are effective July 1, 2023
.
(END)
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HB0287