SB 553, which has already passed the State Senate, would allow electronic gaming at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Remington Park in Oklahoma City and Will Rogers Downs in Claremore. The bill provides for a portion of gambling proceeds to go to Fair Meadows in Tulsa. The designers of the bill, concerned about the Tulsa-owned racetrack participating in gaming, wrote the bill so that Fair Meadows would get a portion of gaming proceeds from Indian tribes already conducting gaming in the city.
At the capitol horsemen and women visited with their own legislators and other legislators to urge support of the bill.
"I saw everybody I know," Robin Akers, Blue Ribbon Downs marketing director, said Wednesday morning. "Horsemen came from everywhere."
Akers said hundreds of horsemen and women from around the state were at the rally, and added it was her understanding that educators were to rally in support of the bill Wednesday. The state's proceeds from Indian and racetrack gaming has been designated for education.
Akers said Choctaw Nation Chief Greg Pyle and Assistant Chief Mike Bailey were also at the capital. The Choctaw Nation purchased Blue Ribbon Downs last fall, just days before the bankrupt racetrack was to go on the auction block.
Dr. Paula Haraway, veterinarian who practices at Blue Ribbon Downs, also attended the rally in support of the bill.
Akers and Haraway both said they were welcomed by the legislators and their staffs. "They were really nice to us," Haraway said.
But Haraway added that polls of the House members indicated SB 553 was still five or six votes short of passing in the House.
Akers said the rally was to point out the importance of the bill to opposing state representatives.
The State Senate passed the bill 30 to 18 on Feb. 18.
Proponents of the bill claim allowing electronic gaming at the state's tracks will save the state's $332 million horseracing industry and the 50,000 jobs it generates.
They point to other states which have allowed electronic gaming at their racetracks and which then boosted those states' racing industries.
SB 553, Akers said, "will clear up some of the gray areas in Indian gaming." It will also deliver some of the money wagered at both Indian casinos and the racetracks to the state, where it has been designated for education, and to the racing industry.
Debbie Scauf, Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing executive director, said it is estimated the horsemen's portion of gaming proceeds would boost purses by $25 to $30 million.
Opponents of the bill argue it will not generate the amount of money hoped for.
Rep. Forrest Claunch (R-Midwest City) said Oklahomans will have to gamble about $14 billion to may the estimated $70 million Gov. Brad Henry is hoping will be raised for education.
But Scott Meacham, state finance director who helped draft the bill, said those figures are wrong. He said if the gaming law is passed, it will generate more than $70 million a year, and will grow as Indian casinos and racetrack gaming grow.
Claunch also questioned if the state could regulate gaming, as the bill is designed to do.
Meacham said the state can regulate gaming, as it already does for the racing industry, and for the first time will let the state have some of the Native American gaming proceeds.
Claunch said the bill "is not a good gamble for Oklahoma" because it pits racetracks, with limited operating hours, against Indian casinos, which run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Meacham said the bill, which includes a model Indian gaming compact, would not expand gaming in Oklahoma, and would clarify the gray areas in Indian gaming.
Meacham told Your TIMES in an interview recently that the bill will allow Indian casinos to offer blackjack tournaments in which players play against one another, rather than the house as is done in Las Vegas-style blackjack.
Some horsemen hoped last week that the House members would vote on SB 553 Wednesday, but House Speaker Larry Adair (D-Stillwell) said the bill would not be brought to the House floor Wednesday because there were not enough votes to pass it.
"We're still working to get the votes," Adair said.
Adair supports the bill along with State Rep. Glen "Bud" Smithson (D-Sallisaw).
Adair estimated the bill was just a few votes short of the 51 needed to pass in the House.
Adair said there were still some legislators who had not made up their minds, and added he would not bring the bill up for a vote until he was sure it could pass the House.
