Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman (Kentucky Lantern photo by Mathew Mueller)

The manufacturer of a so-called “risk-free” gaming machine is hitting the pause button in Kentucky after Attorney General Russell Coleman said the machines are illegal under a ban passed by lawmakers last year.?

Bob Heleringer, an attorney for Prominent Technologies, told the Lantern the company strongly disagrees with Coleman’s advisory but is directing businesses with the “risk free” machines to turn them off while a legal challenge to the ban continues.?

The slot-style gaming devices? — dubbed “gray machines” because of their murky legal status — were found in many bars and gas stations around the state; the legislature outlawed them in 2023 in a bill signed by Gov. Andy Beshear.?

Opponents argue the machines are illegal gambling, while proponents refer to the machines as “skill games.”?

Louisville Public Media reported earlier this year that manufacturer Prominent Technologies said their machines had been changed to become “no risk” games that comply with the ban. The machines tell the user whether their next game will win money or lose money, which the company argues removes the risk from using the machines.?

But Coleman in an advisory released Tuesday wrote such games are illegal because the user still will not know the outcome of future games beyond the next one. “Thus, the game lures the player into continuing to play on the chance that the next game play will result in a win worth more than he will have to pay for the current play,” Coleman wrote. “This hope that the subsequent game play will be a winner is the ‘element of chance’ that makes these so-called ‘Risk-Free Plays’ games illegal gambling devices. There is no safe harbor in Kentucky’s gambling laws for this kind of game.”?

Coleman in his advisory wrote that with a Franklin Circuit Court ruling upholding the “gray machines” ban, local prosecutors are “free to investigate and prosecute any violations of the Commonwealth’s gambling laws, including the laws related to ‘gray machines.’” That ruling is being appealed by plaintiffs including the company Pace-O-Matic, a competitor to Prominent Technologies.?

Heleringer, the lawyer for Prominent Technologies, said the company notified Coleman’s office in January that it was installing “risk free” games and attorneys for the company met with staff from Coleman’s office in August. He said that despite the two sides’ disagreement, the company would resolve matters in the “legal arena.”?

Heleringer derided Coleman’s use in the advisory of a court decision from 1918, in which Coleman compared the “risk free” game machines to slot-style machines that offered users “redeemable chips.”?

“No one is lured into anything,” Heleringer said. “If they make a conscious decision as an adult to play a game and that game tells them the next play is not a winning game, not a winning move, they can elect at that point to get their money back.”?

Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Nicholasville, sponsor of the bill outlawing "gray machines" says the ruling will put enforcement on firmer ground. (LRC Public Information)

A Kentucky judge has upheld the legislature’s 2023 ban of so-called “gray machines,” agreeing with the attorney general that the law does not violate free speech or equal protection guarantees and isn’t unconstitutional special legislation.?

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd in his ruling Friday sided with arguments made by Attorney General Russell Coleman defending House Bill 594, which banned the slot-style machines commonly found in many bars and gas stations around the state.?

The machines’ moniker is derived from their murky legal status, an “allegedly gray area” that Shepherd referenced in his 52-page ruling. Opponents characterize the games as illegal gambling. Proponents refer to them as “skill games” and have argued a ban would let the horse racing industry monopolize gambling in the state. Churchill Downs had filed an amicus brief in defense of HB 594.

Shepherd in his ruling wrote that plaintiffs, including “skill-based” gaming company Pace-O-Matic, had not proved their claim that HB 594 violated the constitutional right to free speech by targeting the “Burning Barrel” game because the legislature didn’t like the ideas the game expressed.

“The Court is not persuaded that HB 594 targeted Burning Barrel because of its expressive content, but rather enacted HB 594 to target the conduct of unregulated wagering,” Shepherd wrote.?

Shepherd also wrote that while HB 594 did appear to benefit Kentucky’s horse race tracks, which had supported the ban, that appearance in and of itself didn’t make the law unconstitutional special legislation.?

Coleman in a statement said lawmakers “took a bold and bipartisan step to protect Kentucky children and families when they outlawed gray machines.”

“After the law was challenged, our Office launched a vigorous defense of the statute and the General Assembly’s fundamental role as our Commonwealth’s policymaking body,” Coleman said. “The resounding victory in the Franklin Circuit is a testament to the top-flight work of our attorneys, and I’m honored to work alongside them every day.”

Guthrie True, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told the Lantern he was disappointed in the ruling but hadn’t had time to review it in detail. True said he planned to talk to his clients about a potential appeal.?

Lobbying efforts around? HB 594 dominated spending in the 2023 session of the Kentucky legislature, with two groups on opposing sides spending nearly $600,000 in ads over two months, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. The legislation sharply divided Republicans in the GOP-dominated legislature as it eventually got final passage and was signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Behsear.?

House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, opposed the ban while also representing a “gray machine” company as an attorney. Nemes told the Lexington Herald-Leader an ethics opinion he requested and received from the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission said it was ethical?to advocate and vote on HB 594 because the legislation affected the entire “gray machines” industry, not just his client. House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, was a co-sponsor of HB 594.

Louisville Public Media reported earlier this year that slot-style machines had begun to reappear in gas stations, with “skill based” machine companies arguing the machines were changed to become “no risk” games as to not run afoul of HB 594.?

Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Nicholasville, the primary sponsor of HB 594, told the Lantern the companies essentially haven’t changed. He believed Shepherd’s ruling will give the attorney general and county attorneys “a whole lot more teeth” to enforce the law.?

“They’re just an extension of the gray machines because there’s still an element of chance — it’s just a secondary element,” Timoney said. “Russell Coleman will have a much more clear direction on how to relay messaging to the county attorneys pertaining to [House Bill] 594.”

Timoney, who was defeated in a primary election last month, said he didn’t believe additional policy was needed in a future legislative session, saying the key now will be enforcing the law that’s already on the books.?

This story was updated with a statement from Attorney General Russell Coleman. Additional context was also added regarding an ethics opinion Rep. Jason Nemes received.

Kerry Harvey (KETscreenshot)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed the former secretary of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to the commission that oversees horse racing and sports gambling in the state.?

Kerry Harvey, of Lexington, will succeed Naveed Chowhan, a Louisville-area doctor, whose term expired on the 15-member Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Beshear announced Friday the appointment of Harvey to the commission among a list of other board appointments.?

The commission has broad oversight over gambling in Kentucky, including betting on horse races, sports wagering and equine safety and medications. Other statutory commission members include secretaries for the Public Protection Cabinet, the Cabinet for Economic Development and the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.?

Harvey left his role leading the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet in February after announcing his retirement last year. Less than a week after his departure, Beshear appointed Harvey to the Kentucky Board of Cosmetology.?

Republican lawmakers had criticized Harvey and former Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Vicki Reed in response to reports of understaffing and violence in juvenile detention centers. Beshear appointed Harvey and Reed in their respective cabinet positions in 2021.?

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the conditions at one development center and eight youth detention centers in the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice.

Before his role as cabinet secretary, Harvey served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 2010 to 2017. As a federal prosecutor, Harvey created an “Overdose Prosecution Initiative” to address Kentucky’s opioid epidemic. Harvey was a top attorney in the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services during the administration of Gov. Steve. Beshear.

Gov. Andy Beshear, left, chats with quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Brittany Mahomes at the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6, 2023 in Louisville. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

FRANKFORT —? Unlike his predecessors, Gov. Andy Beshear has declined to identify friends and political supporters who buy prime tickets to the Kentucky Derby made available by Churchill Downs each year for the governor’s guests.

The Louisville racetrack sets aside large numbers of Derby tickets for sale at face value to Kentucky elected officials, including hundreds to the governor’s group — many of them coveted hard-to-get prime seats.?

One purpose is to allow the state’s chief executive to entertain corporate executives considering investments in the Bluegrass State on that one day of the year when Kentucky shines in the national spotlight.

News articles about this time-honored practice over the past 25 years emphasized that Churchill Downs set aside far more tickets for the governor’s group than are needed by the state’s official corporate guests.?

Over those years, when asked by reporters, Beshear’s four immediate predecessors — including his father Gov. Steve Beshear — withheld the names of the official economic development guests but released lists of names of others who were able to buy the tickets from the governor’s batch. In each case, many of the tickets wound up in the hands of political donors, lobbyists and other supporters.

Those governors took some heat from ethics watchdogs who questioned why Churchill Downs — a major political contributor and potent lobbying presence in Frankfort — needed to give the governor control over enough hard-to-get tickets to take care of his friends.

But Beshear’s office says it has no lists of friends and supporters who got those tickets last year. Like his predecessors, Beshear has set-up a nonprofit corporation to broker his ticket allotment and manage his Derby events “for the promotion of economic development in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”?

Beshear’s nonprofit — called First Saturday in May Inc. —? declined to say how many tickets it purchased from Churchill last year and declined to release records showing who it sold those tickets to.

Churchill Downs failed to respond to questions emailed to it by Kentucky Lantern and numerous follow-up emails and phone calls.?

Though Kentucky Lantern had no luck in learning from Beshear who bought tickets from his allotment in 2023, other public records show that a large number of tickets from the governor’s batch may have been purchased by his political supporters in the Democratic Governors Association.

‘Why are you not letting us know…?’

Norman Ornstein, an authority on ethics in government and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said he has no serious problem with the underlying story of Churchill Downs setting aside so many tickets for the governor’s group.

“My only question now would be: Why are you not letting us know what other governors have let us know?”? Ornstein said in a phone interview.

Delaney Marsco, director of ethics at the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center, had a similar observation. “If this sort of information is not released it raises an appearance that something nefarious may be going on,” Marsco said.

Demand for good Derby tickets exceeds supply, even as the face-value cost of tickets has soared in recent years.?

Doug Dearen, owner of DerbyBox.com a Kentucky Derby tour, travel package and ticketing business, explains on his company’s website, “Horsemen, corporations, families and government have had Kentucky Derby tickets in their possession for over 130 years, which makes this one of the most difficult tickets to obtain in all of sports.”

As such, many Derby fans must go online to the secondary market to buy tickets at prices set by sellers. (A Courier-Journal story on Monday said Ticketmaster listed the prices of reserved Derby seats that day “starting at $923 and selling upward of $10,781.”)

But six news articles over the past 25 years (by The Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader or Associated Press) reported that many friends of the governors over that era got their tickets at face value from the governor’s batch.

Those articles say that the practice of past governors has been — upon request of a reporter — to release the number of tickets allotted to him and the names of those who bought them. They released the names soon after the Derby arguing that any list of names released before the Derby was preliminary and subject to last minute changes. Also, news articles show Beshear’s predecessors declined to release names of the official corporate guests on the grounds that doing so could damage prospective negotiations.

Those news articles reported that Churchill sold as many as 553 tickets to the governors group while Paul Patton was governor in 1999, and as few as 237 in 2016 under Matt Bevin. In between, the number was about 360 tickets.

Kentucky Lantern filed a request under the Open Records Act with the governor’s office in August for documents showing the names of who got tickets for the 2023 Derby from the governor’s batch.

The response of Beshear’s office was the opposite of his predecessors: Beshear’s office released documents showing names of 38 official corporate guests of the state’s economic development and tourism agencies in 2023. But it said it had no lists of names of anyone else who bought the 2023 Derby tickets.

First Saturday in May, Inc.

Detailed information about who buys tickets from the governor’s batch is retained by First Saturday in May Inc. But its treasurer, Melinda Karns, refused Kentucky Lantern’s request to review its records that would show how many tickets it got in 2023 and who bought them.

Karns, a Lexington certified public accountant who is also treasurer of the Kentucky Democratic Party and was treasurer of Beshear’s campaigns for attorney general and governor, did release the group’s most recent tax return (Form 990) for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022. (That form showed annual revenues in 2021-22 of $820,057 and expenses of $758,531. But no names of Derby ticket buyers or donors to the nonprofit are on that form.)

In response to emails that pressed for specifics, Karns said in an email, “The Form 990 that we have provided to you shows the amount of money spent by the First Saturday in May on the Kentucky Derby. Additional tickets to the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby were privately purchased from Churchill Downs by the First Saturday in May at no expense to the Commonwealth.”

Democratic Governors Association

A disclosure report the Democratic Governors Association filed with the Internal Revenue Service last year shows that it apparently purchased many of those additional tickets.

The report shows that in early 2023 it paid $209,608 to First Saturday in May Inc. for “catering facilities.”

The Democratic Governors Association is a well-heeled national political fund dedicated to electing Democratic governors. The group’s priority last year was to reelect Beshear. It donated a massive $19 million to a super PAC called Defending Bluegrass Values that financed an independent campaign that helped Beshear win reelection in November over Republican Daniel Cameron.

DGA spokesman Sam Newton declined to say what exactly the DGA bought from First Saturday in May for $209,608. His emailed response to a question asking if the payment was for Derby tickets was that the money was for “a very successful event at the Kentucky Derby” that the DGA had hosted for several years.

Barren County boo-boo

The DGA’s involvement with Beshear’s 2023 Derby festivities briefly surfaced during the governor’s race last summer, causing some embarrassment to Beshear, the DGA, and especially for the Glasgow Barren County Industrial Development Economic Authority.

A disclosure form the DGA filed with the IRS listed the authority as a donor of $12,500, and that donation was included in news stories about donors to the DGA.

Officials of the authority board said during their August meeting that the donation was a mistake. The authority is partly taxpayer funded and barred from making political contributions, the authority’s chairman said.

Board member Larry Glass took responsibility. According to several news reports, Glass said he was approached by a person with connections to the Beshear administration and asked if he would be interested in representing Barren County at the governor’s Derby events where he could network with executives considering investment in Kentucky.

Glass said he was personally not interested, but suggested that it would be good for the board’s executive director to attend. Glass said he personally paid $12,500 to the authority — the cost for the executive director and her husband to attend the governor’s Derby Eve party, the Kentucky Oaks on the day before the Derby, and the Derby. The authority, in turn, wrote a $12,500 check to the DGA.

Glass told the Lexington Herald-Leader it was a mistake to funnel the money through the authority instead of paying the DGA himself. He said he could not remember who from the Beshear administration had approached him, but said he was not pressured to make the donation, the Herald-Leader reported.

The DGA later refunded the $12,500 to the authority, and an authority official said that amount was in turn refunded to Glass.

Republicans winning race for Churchill political dollars

Churchill Downs is a very big donor to political committees, and it backed Beshear’s reelection in a big way. More than 40 of its officials and employees combined to contribute $85,500 to Beshear’s reelection committees, and Churchill itself gave $275,000 last year to the DGA.

But Churchill and its executives have given far more to Republicans than Democrats in recent years, particularly to committees supporting incumbent Republican state legislators. And support of the Republican lawmakers was crucial in 2023 when the General Assembly passed a sports betting bill favorable to Kentucky’s racetracks and a bill to ban a game proliferating in parts of Kentucky — called a “gray” machine by opponents — that race tracks saw as illegal competition.?

This year alone Churchill has donated $200,000 to a political action committee called Commonwealth Conservative Coalition that is supporting mainstream Republican candidates for the legislature against their “liberty” opponents in upcoming ?primary elections. Also this year, Churchill has donated $100,000 to the Republican Party of Kentucky’s fund drive to renovate its headquarters in Frankfort.

Yes, other officials have access to Derby tickets

Churchill Downs has long made tickets available for sale to not just the governor, but also to all 138 state legislators, the statewide elected officials other than the governor, Kentucky’s members of the U.S. House and Senate and Louisville’s mayor.

Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne, a Prospect Republican, said each state legislator is given the opportunity to buy a box of six Derby seats. He sees no problem with the practice. “It’s the premier annual event in Kentucky and people expect state leaders to be there,” Osborne said. “… A more common reaction I get from people is that they are surprised to learn that we have to buy the tickets.”

About 900 companies, trade associations and other groups registered to lobby during the 2024 session of the Kentucky legislature held at the Capitol in Frankfort. Their combined spending was roughly $1 million higher than the previous record set the year before. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Arden Barnes)

FRANKFORT —?The GOP-dominated Kentucky legislature easily overrode nearly all of Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes Friday on the next to last day of this year’s legislative session, cementing a number of Republican priorities into state law.?

In total, Republican supermajorities in both legislative chambers overrode two dozen vetoes of bills and a resolution, including overriding nearly all line-item vetoes of budgetary bills funding state government.

Democratic lawmakers pushed back, unsuccessfully urging Republicans to uphold the vetoes on a number of bills including a sweeping crime bill, a bill creating more barriers to retire fossil fuel-fired power plants in Kentucky, and a bill changing how U.S. Senate vacancies are filled.?

The legislation with overridden vetoes will now become state law with the signature of Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams. Here are some of the key vetoes the legislature overrode.?

Budget bills

Bills funding the state executive branch to the tune of $128 billion, funding the state legislative and judicial branches and road projects saw multiple line-item vetoes from Beshear.

The governor took issue with a number of provisions in House Bill 6, legislation funding state cabinets and agencies. He vetoed provisions that capped executive branch spending to respond to disasters and forest fires, mandated reports to the legislature about the governor’s executive orders and required state executive branch officials get permission from the state treasurer to use state-owned planes for out-of-state travel.

“Executive orders by their very nature are within the Executive Branch’s authority as set forth in the Kentucky Constitution,” Beshear wrote in vetoing HB 6. “The information requested to be provided by the Executive branch in this provision far exceeds anything the Legislative branch has required under its own procedures during the 2024 Regular Session.”?

Both chambers of the legislature overrode nearly all line-item vetoes in state budgetary bills. They sustained a veto of requiring the Kentucky Department for Natural Resources to create a report on abandoned and active coal mine reclamation projects.?

Rep. Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, echoed Beshear’s concerns on the House floor, saying “it’s not enough to say we’ll come back and have a special session when people are in crisis.”?

“They need a crisis level response. The governor is right: we should sustain his veto as it relates to responding to natural disasters,” Burke said.?

Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, said the arguments against the funding limits for natural disasters were “specious” considering the next state fiscal year for the budget begins in July and that the legislature will reconvene for its next legislative session in about six months.?

Some of the reporting requirements and studies that we direct are important,” McDaniel said, mentioning the legislature’s desire to gather more data on Kentucky State Police operations and the Medicaid waiver program.

House Bill 5

The House easily overrode Beshear’s veto of House Bill 5, an omnibus crime bill backed by Jefferson County Republicans in a vote of 73-22. The bill went straight to the Senate, whose members voted 27-10 to override the veto.?

Beshear vetoed the bill earlier this week. He told reporters Thursday that he supported some parts of the bill, such as the carjacking statute and flexibility for the Kentucky Parole Board, but other parts concerned him.?

“This bill has a number of good sections, but I do believe it was cruel to put some of these sections that would have received unanimous approval with others that individuals knew would have been controversial,” Beshear said.?

The governor added that he had been in Louisville this week to mark the one-year anniversary of the Old National Bank shooting that killed five victims, including a personal friend of his. He noted that one provision of the bill would allow for weapons used in murders to be destroyed after an auction sale.?

He criticized one of the most controversial sections of the bill — making street camping a crime in Kentucky. Advocates have argued that would largely impact people who are homeless. Beshear said several ministers contacted him about the issue.?

“I could not in good conscience, with my faith, sign a bill that would virtually criminalize homelessness and would treat an abandoned car better than a car that had a person in it who was suffering from homelessness,” the governor said.?

Beshear expressed concern about the financial impacts of increasing incarceration in Kentucky —?an issue that falls to the executive branch. Lawmakers are also finalizing the next two-year state budget this session. The governor criticized a limitation included that prevents his administration from delving “into unnecessary government expenses if our correction costs go over.”

Advocates from both right and left think tanks said the legislature should have an in-depth fiscal analysis before implementing the legislation. Beshear said his administration tried to give an estimate to the General Assembly but it “never published it — at all.”?

When the veto override vote was being considered in the Senate, Sen. John Schikel, R-Union, said the supporters of HB 5 are “dealing with real life” and not “hypotheticals about homeless people.”?

Senate Bill 299

Legislation backed by Republican leadership in the General Assembly would dissolve the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Department of Charitable Gaming and create a new government corporation to oversee those duties. The Senate overrode Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 299 and forwarded it to the House Friday afternoon.?

Beshear vetoed the bill because he viewed it as an “unnecessary and unworkable bill, and its unintended consequences would tremendously affect horse racing, sports wagering and charitable gaming industries and the ability of people to serve on the newly-created corporation,” he wrote in his veto message.?

The governor told reporters that a conversation should be had about the move during the legislative interim session and pointed out that it was finalized shortly before the veto period began.?

“The Public Protection Cabinet worked so hard to get sportsbetting launched,” Beshear said. “They brought all of their resources to bear and look at how well it’s gone. There’s that old axiom, ‘if it ain’t broke,’ right? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

House Bill 622

Beshear vetoed a measure that would end the governor’s power to fill U.S. Senate vacancies, House Bill 622. In his veto message, the governor wrote that the General Assembly had passed legislation in 2021 to change the process and criticized it for changing “its mind for the second time in three years.”?

“This administration deserves the same authority as previous administrations,” Beshear continued.?

Unsurprisingly, the House and Senate disagreed with him and overrode his veto Friday. The bill had passed through both chambers with bipartisan support.?

Senate Bill 349?

Both chambers of the legislature overrode Beshear’s veto of a bill, Senate Bill 349, backed by Senate President Rorbert Stivers, R-Manchester, creating new hurdles before utilities can retire fossil fuel-fired power plants.?

SB 349 will create a new commission, whose membership would include significant fossil fuel interests, that utilities would have to give notice to about plans to retire a fossil fuel-fired power plant before officially filing such a plan before the state’s utility regulator, the Kentucky Public Service Commission.?

This commission would create a report for each retirement request analyzing the impacts of and alternatives to the request, including impacts to the state’s electricity supply and whether the retirement would create a “loss of revenue” for local and state government.?

Environmental advocacy groups and Investor-owned utilities including Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) have decried SB 349 as potentially burdening ratepayers with the costs of keeping aging, uneconomical coal-fired power plants on the power grid. Proponents, including national coal industry interests, have backed the bill as a way to secure the reliability of the state’s power grid, an assertion rebuffed by the president of LG&E and KU.?

Beshear’s veto message rejecting SB 349 said he agreed Kentucky “must have energy reliability” but said the new commission wasn’t the right solution, was unconstitutional and something that instead could “jeopardize economic development.”?

The Kentucky Senate, Feb. 27, 2024. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Arden Barnes)

FRANKFORT — A bill that open government advocates warn would introduce loopholes into Kentucky’s open records law could make its way to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk when lawmakers return to Frankfort later this week.?

The final two days of the 60-day regular session — Friday and Monday — are set aside to consider gubernatorial vetoes of bills that both chambers have passed. The Republican supermajority can easily reach the simple majority of votes needed to override ?vetoes.

Legislation that has yet to make it through both chambers also could come up in the final two days, including a bill to end the certificate of need requirement for freestanding birth centers and a maternal health bill that ran aground in the Senate after a late amendment was added in committee.

The Senate is expected to consider confirming Robbie Fletcher as the state education commissioner, along with appointments to other positions. Thanks to a law enacted last year, it will be the first time the education commissioner has required Senate confirmation.

Any bill that lawmakers pass would be subject to a successful veto by Beshear because the legislature would have no chance to override it.

‘Bad actors’

Beshear has voiced support for the controversial changes to the open records law proposed in House Bill 509. During his weekly news conference last week he said he needs to see the bill’s final form before deciding what action to take on the bill. “We’ll review it when it gets to me.”

The House passed the bill, but the Senate did not give it a floor vote ahead of the veto period. The Senate could give final passage to the bill when both chambers reconvene Friday and Monday.

HB 509 would require state and local government agencies to provide email accounts to public officials on which to conduct official business. However, the bill doesn’t address what happens to public records created on private devices.?

Beshear told reporters he thinks the bill would be more effective than current law in deterring officials from conducting public business on their personal devices or email accounts. He traced the controversy to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR), which has waged a so far unsuccessful court fight to block release of commissioners’ text messages. The challenge is now before the state Supreme Court.

“Fish and Wildlife hadn’t issued state email addresses to their commissioners and they insisted on texting each other on their own devices,” Beshear said. “That’s wrong. So, right now, what the law says is if you do that, that is an open record. But all we can do in terms of enforcement is ask that person ‘would you please look through your phone and take snapshots of anything that we’re asking for and send them to us now?’ Do you think a bad actor who’s trying to get around the open records request is going to do that and send them to you?”

HB 509 would destroy Kentucky’s long tradition of openness. And Beshear knows it.

Beshear said HB 509’s mandate that official business be conducted on government email accounts could aid transparency by making government agencies responsible for the records. “What it does is take whether you get a record away from a potential bad actor and put it with the agency that can secure those records.”

Agencies could discipline employees who violate HB 509’s mandates — by using a personal cell phone or email account for official communications, for example — but it’s unclear if and how those records could be publicly disclosed. The bill includes no penalties for violations by elected officials. The bill also does not require agencies to search for public records on personal devices.?

When asked if he thought Beshear would veto the bill, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers told reporters as the veto period began: “You’d have to ask the governor on that. I do not know. I don’t know what he would do.”?

The open records challenge against the KDFWR was spurred by a former member of the KDFWR’s governing board requesting text messages among Fish and Wildlife officials and lawmakers. The governor and Republican legislature have also clashed over the Kentucky Senate not confirming gubernatorial appointments to the KDFWR’s governing board. Five appointments are? awaiting confirmation this session.?

Here’s a look at where some other high-profile legislation stands:?

Momnibus?

After picking up some controversial baggage in the last leg of the legislative session, the maternal health bill called “Momnibus” failed to get final passage.?

The bill would incentivize Kentuckians to get prenatal care by adding pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events for health insurance coverage, among other things. It had bipartisan support.

But a late amendment borrowed language from a bill filed by an anti-abortion lawmaker that requires hospitals and midwives to refer patients who have nonviable pregnancies or whose fetuses have been diagnosed with fatal conditions to perinatal palliative care services. Abortion rights advocates say the requirement could become coercive.

The bill awaits Senate passage and Beshear’s action.?

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate have filed amendments

Democrats in the Senate have filed amendments to loosen the state’s near-total ban on abortion by adding exceptions for rape, incest and lethal fetal anomalies ?and changing the word “baby” to “fetus.”?

It could still pass in the final two days but would have to be a version that meets Beshear’s approval because lawmakers would be unable to override a veto.??

Freestanding birth centers?

A bill to remove the certificate of need requirement for freestanding birth centers that meet a set of criteria was approved by the House. It has had two readings in the Senate but still needs to pass a Senate committee.?

A Senate Resolution to reestablish a task force to study certificate of need in Kentucky has also not passed.?

Crime bill awaits action by Beshear

A sweeping crime bill backed by Jefferson County House Republicans has been awaiting action by the governor for about a week. House Bill 5 has been hotly debated, with House Democrats futilely arguing on the last day before the veto period against the measure.??

The bill includes new or increased criminal penalties, bans street camping and imposes a three strikes rule on violent offenders. It requires prisoners convicted of violent offenses to serve 85% of their sentences instead of the current 20% before becoming eligible for parole, and classifies more crimes as violent.

HB 5 has gained opposition from across the political spectrum, as both progressive and conservative groups have argued that a more in-depth fiscal analysis is needed before implementing the legislation. However, the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police and some families of deceased crime victims have expressed support for the bill.?

Beshear told reporters Thursday that he was still reviewing the bill and was supportive of parts of it but concerned about other sections. He added that he supported the carjacking provision but had reservations about provisions that could criminalize homelessness by creating the crime of illegal street camping.?

He said a part of the bill that would “allow for the destruction of a weapon used in a murder” is close to him a year after the Old National Bank shooting in Louisville. The bill would allow someone to purchase such a weapon at auction and ask Kentucky State Police to destroy it. The funds are used for local government and law enforcement grants.?

Local officials highlighted the issue of the auctions after the shooting last year. One of the victims, Tommy Elliot, was a close friend of Beshear’s.?

“Thankfully, the ATF seized that weapon, and it was destroyed,” Beshear said of the weapon used in the bank shooting. “Otherwise, I was going to have to watch a weapon that murdered my friend be auctioned to the highest bidder.”?

Beshear also added that he wished legislation like this would be broken up into separate bills. He can only issue line-item vetoes on budget bills.?

Changes to horse racing and gambling oversight

Beshear can also take action on another bill that was passed by the General Assembly just before the veto period began that would dissolve the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Department of Charitable Gaming.?

Senate Bill 299 would form a new government corporation to oversee the duties of the commission and department. Both of those are currently under the Public Protection Cabinet. The House and Senate have both given approval on the measure.

The bill has been backed by the legislature’s Republican leadership. In a joint meeting of the Senate and House economic development committees, Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer and House Speaker David Osborne presented the bill.?

Beshear told reporters that it does not impact gubernatorial appointment powers but would create an independent corporation that could “take regulatory action and punish different groups,” such as trainers. That raises a question about the constitutionality of the bill, he said, as an executive branch officer will not be over the corporation.

“So, how are you independent but have full regulatory and enforcement authority? I think that’s the thing to work through there,” Beshear said. “We’ve never seen it before. We don’t know of another group that acts that way, so a little complex legally.”?

New hurdles for fossil fuel-fired power plant retirements

Beshear has yet to act on Senate Bill 349, a Senate president-backed bill that would add new bureaucratic hurdles to slow the retirement of fossil fuel-fired power plants. Before utilities could retire a fossil fuel-fired plant, they would have to notify a newly created board, whose membership would be dominated by fossil fuel industries.

Investor-owned utilities and environmental advocacy groups have decried the bill, saying it could keep aging, uneconomical coal-fired power plants on the grid and burden ratepayers with the costs of their maintenance. Advocates for the bill, including coal industry interests, have argued SB 349 is needed to ensure the reliability of the state’s energy grid, an assertion rebuffed by the leader of Kentucky’s largest utility.

Beshear last month criticized the bill, saying it was going to “take authority” from the state’s utility regulator, the Kentucky Public Service Commission, which makes decisions on power plant retirement requests. He said he’s been in the “same place” as some of the people who have pushed for SB 349, but that the proposed board is “not the way” to address the issue.

Limiting power of Louisville’s air pollution regulator

Beshear on Monday vetoed House Bill 136, sponsored by Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville. The bill would prevent the Louisville Air Pollution Control District from issuing fines against industries that self-disclose violations of federal pollution regulations. Critics, including the environmental law group Kentucky Resources Council, say it could give industry in Jefferson County a “free pass” from penalties when a self-disclosure of a violation happens by ending the air pollution regulator’s ability to issue penalties in such cases.

Bauman and other Republicans have argued HB 136 is needed to align air pollution regulations in Jefferson County with the rest of the state. Most Democrats have opposed the bill, worried the bill could create less accountability over air pollution in Jefferson County.?

Criminalizing documentation of meatpacking plants, ag operations without consent?

Senate Bill 16, sponsored by Sen. John Schickel, R-Union and backed by Tyson Foods and Kentucky’s poultry industry, would criminalize using recording equipment or drones at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and commercial food processing and manufacturing plants without the permission of the operation’s owner or manager. It would also criminalize distributing the footage.

Group alleges ‘hidden-camera’ video reveals ‘cruelty’ in chicken production in Kentucky?

Critics, including animal welfare groups, have said the bill is a so-called “ag gag” bill meant to hide from the public and prevent whistleblowers from exposing the conduct and practices of large-scale, corporate agricultural operations. An animal protection advocacy group released a video from a “hidden-camera” investigation of alleged “cruelty” within Kentucky poultry production, an investigation the group argues would be criminalized under SB 16.?

Schickel and other SB 16 supporters have said the bill is needed to prevent harassment of employees and agricultural operations that provide jobs to Kentucky communities. The bill passed through the legislature largely on party lines.?

Bills that are in the legislative graveyard or near

Anti-DEI bills: Republican efforts to limit or end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public universities and colleges died when the Senate declined to consider changes made in its bill by the House. Any effort to revive anti-DEI legislation would almost certain be vetoed by Beshear.

Drag bill: After several edits to soften the legislation, a bill to place restrictions on adult-oriented businesses with “sexually explicit” performances sputtered on the House side despite passing a committee.??

Vaccine bill: A bill to bar employers and educational institutions from requiring the COVID-19 vaccination for treatment, employment or school, passed in the Senate but failed to advance on the House side.?

Though it could still pass in the final days of the session, Beshear, an outspoken supporter of the vaccines, would likely veto it.?

Abortion bills: None of the bills seeking to loosen Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban were assigned committees, making them effectively dead on arrival.?Those include:?

• A Republican bill to add rape and incest exceptions and clarify doctors can treat ectopic pregnancies?
• A Democratic bill to add rape and incest exceptions.?
• A Democratic bill to roll back all abortion restrictions.?

Loosening state child labor law: A bill that would allow some teenagers to work longer and later hours, voted down and then revived by a Senate committee, still needs final passage through the Senate to get to Beshear’s desk.?

Lawmakers wouldn’t have the chance to override a veto of House Bill 255 from Beshear, who in past comments panned the legislation saying child labor protections are there “for a reason.”?

Education and Labor Cabinet officials have said HB 255 also deletes language in state law that mirrors federal prohibitions on employing 14- and 15-year olds in hazardous occupations, such as jobs involving railroad cars and conveyors, loading and unloading goods from motor vehicles and requiring the use of ladders. State labor officials said they wouldn’t be able to enforce those hazardous occupation standards even if still federally prohibited.?

Bill sponsor Rep. Phillip Pratt, R-Georgetown, who owns a lawn and landscaping company, said his legislation would help minors “gain valuable experience in the workplace.”

Weakening a mine safety protection: House Bill 85, sponsored by Rep. Bill Wesley, R-Ravenna, would weaken a key workplace protection for coal miners, according to a long-time coal miner safety advocate. Wesley has argued HB 85 is needed to help smaller coal mines continue operating.?The bill would need approval from the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee and three required readings before being sent to the governor, who could veto it without the legislature overriding it.?

Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown (LRC Public Information)

FRANKFORT —?Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer’s late-breaking plan to form a new government corporation to oversee horse racing and charitable gaming is on the move in the Kentucky General Assembly.?

With only a handful of days left to pass bills, Senate Bill 299, which began as a “shell” bill, was heard in a joint meeting of the Senate and House economic development committees Tuesday morning and won Senate approval in a 26-11 floor vote in the afternoon.?

The bill would create the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation to replace the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Department of Charitable Gaming — both of which are currently under the Public Protection Cabinet.?

According to the committee substitute version of the bill, the corporation would oversee areas like live horse racing and sports wagering, as well as charitable gaming after July 2025.?

The Horse Racing Commission would be abolished in July 2024 and its employees and responsibilities would be transferred to the corporation. The charitable gaming department would be abolished the following summer and its employees and responsibilities would move to the corporation.?

Board members of the corporation would be appointed by the governor and subject to Senate confirmation. Current board members of the commission and department would serve two-year terms on the corporation.

Thayer, of Georgetown, is the primary sponsor and has deep ties to the horse racing industry. He appeared in the committee alongside Republican House Speaker David Osborne, of Prospect.?

“I think this would bring increased scrutiny, integrity and transparency to all legal forms of gaming in Kentucky,” he said.?

Kentucky is the site of several renowned horse races, including the Kentucky Derby. Last year, sports betting was legalized in Kentucky.?

Thayer previously filed a floor amendment to another Senate bill that would move the Horse Racing Commission to the Department of Agriculture. That bill proposes to move the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife to agriculture.

Before it became a sweeping change to oversee horse racing and gaming in Kentucky Tuesday, Senate Bill 299 was a shell bill, apparently minor legislation that lawmakers use to introduce major legislation well after the deadline for filing bills. The new version of the bill is more than 280 pages.?

The Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee approved the bill Tuesday, while members of the House Economic Development and Workforce Investment Committee only discussed the bill Tuesday.?

The Senate almost took up Thayer’s bill shortly after it began debate Thursday afternoon. However, some senators objected that they still did not have the committee substitute on their computers. After it was uploaded, the Senate moved to other bills to give senators time to read over it before debating.

Democratic Caucus Chair Reggie Thomas, of Lexington, criticized? how the bill moved ahead of the debate, but supported the legislation.?

“The lack of transparency, the lack of sunshine, is something that should not be applauded,” he said.?

Thomas’ fellow Democratic senators voted against the bill, along with five Republicans. Several opponents said they had been receiving concerned questions from charitable game sponsors that they could not answer.

After the Senate adjourned, Thayer said his intent to make changes in the Racing Commission had been public since he filed his original floor amendment, although the measure introduced Tuesday is far wider in scope than the earlier amendment.

When asked if he would ever like to serve as a board member for the new corporation, Thayer said such an appointment is not something he is considering at the moment. He previously announced he will not seek reelection, so this is his last legislative session.?

“I hadn’t even thought about it. I’m quite certain I wouldn’t get an appointment by this governor,” Thayer said, referring to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.?

Thayer said he may run for another political office, such as governor, in the future. He also noted that he won’t be able to use his power? as a Senate leader to influence any appointments to the new board because he will no longer be in the legislature.

Gov. Andy Beshear holds up his $20 parlay bet at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first day of legal sports betting in Kentucky, Sept. 7, 2023. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

FRANKFORT? – Gambling interests ponied up big to outside groups that spent more than $30 million on last year’s race for Kentucky governor.

Kentucky’s horse race tracks that have expanded into new forms of legalized gambling gave big to the Democratic Governors Association in 2023 which spent $19.2 million backing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection.

In reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service last week the DGA disclosed that it got $250,000 from Churchill Downs, $200,000 from Kentucky Downs, and $50,000 from Revolutionary Racing Kentucky during the second half of 2023.

Meanwhile, Pace-O-Matic, the Georgia-based manufacturer of gaming machines, and officials of the company gave at least $362,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2023. The RGA, in turn, spent $12.7 million backing Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s campaign for governor.

The DGA and RGA are big Washington-based political committees that exist to elect members of their party as governors of the 50 states. They are called “527 organizations” — groups organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service Code that can accept contributions of unlimited amounts from people, corporations, unions and other groups.

By contributing to the two 527 organizations, people and groups were able to give as much as they wanted to support Beshear or Cameron. By contrast, state law limits the amount a person or traditional political action committee can give to a campaign to $2,100. Contributions from corporations are not allowed.

Kentucky was one of only three states that held its election for governor last year, and the only one of the three considered to be competitive.

And both the DGA and RGA made Kentucky a priority. Beshear won the election, capturing about 52.5 percent of the vote.?

The DGA and RGA must disclose names of donors and expenses with the IRS. On Saturday, an IRS website posted reports from each group which disclosed donors for the period between July 1 and Dec. 31. The vast majority of money contributed to each group came in large donations from corporations and individuals from across the country.Because Kentucky had the only competitive election for governor last year, many large donors during this period were from Kentucky or had financial interests in Kentucky.

Here’s what the new reports show about Kentucky donors to each group in the last half of 2023:

Democratic Governors Association

The DGA reported raising $32.4 million during the six-month period.

Three large donors were owners or affiliates of horse racing tracks that hold Kentucky licenses as sports wagering operators. The legislature legalized sports gambling in Kentucky last year. The new law authorizes only race tracks to operate retail sports gambling sites. The law also allows each track to partner with up to three marketing platforms for mobile wagering.

Churchill Downs donated $250,000; Kentucky Downs, of Franklin, gave $200,000; and Revolutionary Racing, of Boston, gave $50,000.

Also, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, of Lexington is listed as giving $25,000

The health insurance giant Humana Inc. gave big to both governors associations: $110,000 to the DGA, and $165,500 to the RGA.

Another big donor to both groups was CoreCivic, the operator of privately-run prisons. CoreCivic is listed as giving $155,000 to the DGA and $285,000 to the RGA last year.

Two corporations based in Louisa and headed by Tim Robinson, best known as the chief executive and founder of Addiction Recovery Care, gave big to the DGA. According to the reports Pioneer Health Group gave $40,000; and London ValuRite Pharmacy gave $20,000. (London ValuRite Pharmacy Pharmacy also gave $50,000 to the DGA in the first half of 2023.)

A company called SK FL Investments, of Midway, contributed $50,000. Kentucky Secretary of State records show the owners of this company are Sandeep Kapoor and Frank Lassiter, who are former officials of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services who founded the consulting firm HealthTech Solutions which previously contributed to the DGA.

Other Kentucky donors to the DGA in the second half of 2023 include:

• Sazerac Company, Louisville, $25,000
• Brown-Forman Corporation, Louisville, $25,000
• Pace-O-Matic of Pennsylvania, $25,000
• Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Owensboro, $25,000
• LG&E and KU Services, Louisville, $20,000
• New Day Recovery Center, Lexington, $20,000
• John Ridley, Bowling Green, managing director, Stifel Financial, $15,000
• Case Coal Sales, Louisa, $11,600
• Seneca Place LLC, Louisville, $10,000
• Gary L. Taylor, Berea, retired, $10,000
• Southeast Construction Welding, Hazard, $10,000
• Valley Stream Operator LLC, Richmond, $10,000

Republican Governors Association

The RGA reported raising $28.8 million in the second half of 2023.

Karmin A. Pace, the owner of Pace-O-Matic, from Duluth, Georgia, contributed $200,000 to the RGA during the period.

In addition, the Pace-O-Matic corporation is listed as making contributions during the period totaling $95,000.

And nine officials of Pace-O-Matic are listed as donors who, when combined, gave a total of $67,000 more to RGA during the period.

Pace-O-Matic is a manufacturer of video games with cash payouts. Critics call them “gray machines” because of their murky legal status, but supporters call them “games of skill.” The most heavily-lobbied bill of the 2023 General Assembly — and one that eventually was enacted into law — banned such machines from the state. That bill pitted Pace-O-Matic against Kentucky’s race tracks.

Pace-O-Matic has filed a lawsuit asking to strike down that law.

The RGA did get some donations from race tracks: Revolutionary Racing of Kentucky, Boston, Massachusetts, gave $25,000. Lexington Trots Breeders Association (the Red Mile), Lexington, gave $25,000.

Other donors to the RGA in the second half of 2023 include: ResCare, Louisville, $50,000;?Cleary Construction, Tompkinsville, $25,000;?Houchens PAC, Louisville, $10,000.

The Kentucky House of Representatives chamber on Jan. 3, 2024 as Gov. Andy Beshear delivered the State of the Commonwealth address to a joint session of the legislature. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Arden Barnes)

FRANKFORT — Gambling interests drove lobbying spending in Frankfort to a record level in 2023.

More than 800 corporations, associations and other groups reported spending $24.7 million to influence the Kentucky General Assembly last year, according to data posted Thursday on the Legislative Ethics Commission‘s website.

That breaks the prior record of $22.4 million spent to lobby the 2022 General Assembly.

The record is noteworthy because Kentucky lawmakers convened for only a short legislative session of 30 days in 2023. In 2022 the legislature was in session for 60 days.

A review of the ethics commission’s website shows that the main reason lobbying spending was up last year was gambling legislation.

Primarily a bill to ban so-called “gray machines” appears to have churned the most lobbying spending in 2023.

A group that called itself Kentucky Merchants and Amusement Coalition, which opposed the gray machine ban, reported spending $483,324 — more than any other group — on lobbying state lawmakers last year.

The machines at issue are video games with cash payouts and could be found at clubs, bars and gas stations throughout the state. Their proponents refer to them as “games of skill.”

A group that called itself Kentuckians Against Illegal Gambling, which pushed for banning the machines, reported spending the third-most of any group — $348,763.

The vast majority of the money spent by both groups was for broadcast advertising that aired during the 2023 session while the bill was under consideration.

In the end, the ban on gray machines passed and now is being challenged in court.

In addition to those two groups, myriad other gambling interests spent big on lobbying last year. Pace-O-Matic, the Georgia company that makes the gray machines, reported spending $110,150 on lobbying last year.

And race tracks that successfully pushed for banning gray machines and legalizing sports betting spent big on lobbying: Churchill Downs reported $128,090 in lobbying spending; Keeneland, $112,226;? The Red Mile, $89,930; Revolutionary Racing, $81,174; ECL Entertainment, $45,000.

As usual, major business associations, health care interests, electric utilities and energy interests all were among the top lobbying spenders last year.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the statewide association lobbying for businesses reported spending the second-most — $440,030 — for the year.

?Its counterpart in Louisville, Greater Louisville Inc., reported spending $113,427.

Health care entities among the top 20 lobbying spenders were: Kentucky Hospital Association, $265,093; Kentucky Medical Association, $169,420; HCA Healthcare, $142,400; Humana, $123,635; Elevance Health, $122,693; LifePoint Health, $118,480

Utilities among the top 20 were: LG&E and KU Energy, $164,407; East Kentucky Power Cooperative, $118,242; and Duke Energy, $115,819.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which opposed anti-LGBTQ legislation that was enacted in last year’s session, spent $192,084, putting it ?among the top 10 in lobbying spending. Other groups in the top 10: tobacco giant Altria, of Richmond, Virginia, $191,598; Kentucky Retail Federation, $168,985; and Kentucky Distillers Association, $168,281.

Other data posted on the commission website show Patrick Jennings was paid the most of any lobbyist in 2023 — $854,258. Bob Babbage, the former Kentucky secretary of state and auditor who has been the top-paid lobbyist many years, was second at $756,283.

The commission’s website shows that 20 lobbyists made more than $322,000 last year for their work trying to influence lawmakers. (By comparison, Gov. Andy Beshear’s annual salary is $174,216.)

Groups that spent the most lobbying in 2023

There are 829 companies, associations and other groups registered to lobby the Kentucky General Assembly. Each must report its lobbying expenses to the Legislative Ethics Commission. According to year-end information posted Thursday on the commission’s website, here are the 20 groups that reported spending the most money to influence the Kentucky General Assembly in 2023:

Kentucky Merchants and Amusement Coalition, Lexington, gambling, $483,324

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Frankfort, business association, $444,030

Kentuckians Against Illegal Gambling, Louisville, gambling, $348,763

Kentucky Hospital Assn., Louisville, hospitals, $265,093

American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, Louisville, $192,084

Altria Client Services, Richmond, Virginia, tobacco products, $191,598

Kentucky Medical Assn., Louisville, doctors, $169,420

Kentucky Retail Federation, Louisville, retail stores, $168,985

Kentucky Distllers’ Assn., Frankfort, distillers, $168,281

LG&E and KU Energy, Louisville, utility, $164,407

HCA Healthcare, Nashville, health care, $142,400

Kentucky Association of Counties, Frankfort, county governments, $140,782

Kentucky League of Cities, Lexington, city governments, $139,553

Churchill Downs, Louisville, gambling, $128,090

Humana Inc., Louisville, health insurance, $123,635

Elevance Health, Cincinnati, health insurance, $122,693

LifePoint Health, Brentwood, Tennessee, hospital, $118,480

East Kentucky Power Cooperattive, Winchester, utility, $118,242

Duke Energy, Cincinnati, utility, $115,819

Greater Louisville Inc., Louisville, business association, $113,427

Top-paid lobbyists in 2023

There are 673 people registered to lobby the Kentucky General Assembly. The groups that employ them must report how much they pay their lobbyists to the Legislative Ethics Commission. According to year-end information posted Thursday on the commission’s website, here are the 20 lobbyists who were paid the most to lobby the General Assembly in 2023. Each of these 20 is a contract lobbyist who works for numerous clients. Along with the name and amount the lobbyist was paid in 2023 are the names of three of their more prominent clients.

Patrick Jennings?????????????$854,258

Clients include Kentucky Hospital Assn., CSX Corp., and AT&T

Bob Babbage????????????????$756,283

Clients include MC Global Holdings, Tyler Kentucky, Underdog Fantasy

Stephen Huffman????????????$754,000

Clients include Revolutionary Racing, The Red Mile, IGT

Ronald Pryor??????????????$717,900

Clients include HCA Healthcare, LifePoint Health, Kentucky Hospital Assn.

John McCarthy????????????? ? $681,993

Clients include Churchill Downs, Kentucky Optometric Assn., Kentucky Financial Services Assn.

Sean Cutter????????????????? $607,167

Clients include RAI Services, Expedia Group, Autonomous Vehicle Industry

Kelley Abell???????????????????$581,665

Clients include BrightSpring Health, Dish Network, Kentucky Assn. of Adult Day Centers

Jason Bentley??????????????? ?$547,684

Clients include RAI Services, Kentucky Distillers’ Assn., LG&E and KU Energy

Chris Nolan ?????????????????$541,648

Clients include Mucor, Kentucky Distillers’ Assn., Diversified Energy

Katherine Hall????????????????$491,417

Clients include Kentucky Assn. of Health Care Facilities, New Venture Fund, AT&T

Laura Owens?????????????????$468,000

Clients include Uber, Powerhouse Kentucky, Baptist Health

James Higdon????????????????$466,968

Clients include Merck Sharp & Dohne, Humana, RAI Services

Mike Biagi????????????????????$430,550

Clients include Kentucky Credit Union League, Wellcare Health, Appalachian Regional Healthcare

John Cooper??????????????????$415,852

Clients include Toyota, Kentucky Medical Assn., Kentucky Bankers Assn.

Jason Underwood?????????????$413,450

Clients include Airhub, Caesar’s Digital, United Healthcare

Amy Wickliffe?????????????????$402,049

Clients include Pfizer, Churchill Downs, Gilead Sciences

Trey Grayson??????????????????$375,703

Clients include Academic Partnerships LLC, Lancaster Colony Group, Wellpath

Steve Robertson???????????????$362,927???

Clients include Academic Partnerships LLC, Kentucky County Clerks Assn., Wellpath

Marc Wilson??????????????????$328,146

Clients include Community Choice Financial, Mountain Comprehensive Care, Cincinnati Bell

Karen Thomas-Lentz???????????$322,542

Clients include EPIC Pharmacies, Swisher International, Kentucky Liquor Retailers

A woman plays a slot machine at a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The instant Tammy Brady felt the lump in her breast in February 2022, she knew it was cancer. With no known genetic predisposition for breast cancer, she suspects 38 years of working in smoky Atlantic City casinos played a role.

“I was just trying to make a living,” said Brady, 56, a dealer and supervisor at Borgata in that New Jersey resort city. “You don’t think, you know, that you’re going to get sick at your job.”

Some casinos continue to allow indoor smoking even as the share of Americans who smoke fell from about 21% in 2005 to 12% in 2021 and smoking is banned in at least some public spaces in 35 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Still, 13 of the 22 states and territories that allow casino gambling permit smoking in at least part of their facilities.

Brady is among the casino employees, anti-smoking advocates, and public health experts who argue it is long past time to snuff out casino exemptions from smoking bans, given the dangers of secondhand smoke. But they’ve faced stiff pushback from some gambling industry leaders, including in Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, and New Jersey, who argue that smoking bans drive gamblers away — especially in places where patrons can go instead to a casino in a nearby jurisdiction that allows them to light up.

The covid-19 pandemic renewed this fight and sharpened the arguments on both sides — on the dangers of particulate matter for the anti-smoking side and the vulnerability of revenues for the casino industry, even as the American Gaming Association reported record-breaking revenues in 2022 for in-person casino gambling beyond the growth of sports betting and online gambling.

Casinos were shut down for several months in spring 2020 as part of the nationwide effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Rules governing reopening, including masking and physical distancing requirements and bans on smoking, varied by state and, in some cases, by casino operator and community.

After suffering pandemic-era losses, some casino executives, and at least one union representing workers, leaned into a 2021 report commissioned by the Casino Association of New Jersey to combat efforts to ban or restrict smoking at their properties. Using data from 2019, the report suggests that as many as 2,500 Atlantic City casino workers could lose their jobs and tax revenue could fall by as much as $44 million in the first year if smoking is banned in New Jersey but not in neighboring Pennsylvania. Both states considered prohibitions on casino smoking in 2023; New Jersey lawmakers didn’t pass their bill and Pennsylvania’s remains in limbo.

Brian Christopher, a social media influencer specializing in casinos and gambling, said he has heard the arguments about lost business before — and is unconvinced. “People are not driving or flying to a casino to have a cigarette,” he said.

Still, officials in some places are persuaded by arguments about depressed tax revenue. Last spring, Shreveport, Louisiana, officials repealed a 2020 ban on smoking in casinos. Those pushing the repeal said local gambling taxes fell when gamblers left for nearby casinos where they could smoke. The new ordinance allows smoking on 75% of the casino floor.

And Churchill Downs Inc. announced in June it was moving a gambling facility planned for empty mall space in Owensboro, Kentucky, to a location outside the city limits. Though the company declined to comment for this article, the city’s mayor told the Messenger-Inquirer newspaper that a primary reason for the move was the city’s long-standing voter-approved smoking restrictions, which do not exempt casinos.

Kanika Cunningham, director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health in Missouri, was part of an effort last year to end a casino loophole in her county’s 2011 indoor smoking ban. But after pushback from the gambling company Penn Entertainment, a compromise was reached allowing smoking on 50% of a casino’s floor.

“It’s a balance and one that we feel the marketplace should determine, particularly in such a competitive environment with other gaming facilities nearby and in neighboring states,” said Jeff Morris, Penn Entertainment’s vice president of public affairs and government relations.

Penn Entertainment employs “state of the art ventilation systems, extremely high ceilings,” and “adequate separation of smoking and non-smoking areas,” he wrote in an email to KFF Health News.

The problem, Cunningham said, is that secondhand smoke cannot be contained to a single location in a big room.

“There’s no safe amount, and trying to restrict it to a certain area isn’t going to work,” she said.

Filtration systems can remove much of the visible smoke, as well as the odor, from indoor spaces even when lots of people are smoking, creating the impression of clean air. But existing technology does not eliminate the dangerous particulates in cigarette smoke, according to a 2023 report from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, or ASHRAE.

A study published in 2023 for the National Institutes of Health evaluated particulate matter at eight Las Vegas casinos that allowed smoking and one that did not. In casinos where smoking is allowed, particulate levels were significantly higher — even in areas designated as nonsmoking — than at the nonsmoking casino.

And in ventilated casinos where indoor smoking is allowed, one study showed, workers can have nicotine levels as much as 600% higher than employees exposed to smoking in other workplaces.

Secondhand smoke can cause coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and other diseases. Some studies have shown a link to breast cancer, although more research is needed, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The pandemic raised awareness of the dangers of airborne particulates, giving smoking bans fresh momentum, said Andrew Klebanow, co-founder of the independent industry consulting group C3 Gaming, which produced a report in 2022 largely refuting the economic risk of casinos going smoke-free.

Indeed, more than 1,000 U.S. casinos and other gambling properties now ban smoking, including more than 140 tribal casinos, according to Americans Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

New Mexico’s tribal leaders collectively agreed to maintain smoking bans when pandemic restrictions were lifted, said Denis Floge, chief executive of Acoma Business Enterprises and Sky City Casino in North Acomita Village. Employee health has improved, he said, qualifying the casino for rebates on its insurance premium. Cleaning and replacement costs for carpets and equipment fell, he said, and the tribes “haven’t missed a beat” on revenues.

Some guests have grumbled about having to go outside to smoke, Floge said, but that’s about it. “We don’t have anybody who jumps up and down, or throws a fit and says, ‘I’m leaving and never coming back!’” he said.

Casino executives who oppose smoking restrictions overlook people who want to enjoy the “great food and the great entertainment, but won’t step foot in a casino because they get hit by a blast of smoke as soon as they step in,” said Pete Naccarelli, a Borgata dealer and one of three co-founders of the advocacy organization Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects.

He said they founded the group, which has chapters in New Jersey, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia, after his casino put out ashtrays at 12:01 a.m. the day the pandemic-related smoking ban officially ended. Borgata did not answer requests for comment.

The industry-commissioned report on New Jersey suggests that while more nonsmokers might frequent casinos once smoking is banned, they probably would not make up for the revenue lost if smokers choose other venues or when smokers take breaks from gambling to light up.

But Brady, now cancer-free after chemotherapy and a full mastectomy, believes that if policymakers spent some time breathing the same air she and her co-workers do they’d act more quickly to ban smoking in casinos, rather than prioritize tax revenues. “Our lives are more important,” she said.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.

Signs for and against the proposed Richmond Grand casino at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Richmond City, Va., November 7, 2023. Photo by Parker Michels-Boyce

The second time was not the charm for developers’ dreams of building a casino in Richmond, Virginia.

City voters appeared to have decisively rejected the idea in a referendum Tuesday, with more than 60% of votes cast opposing the measure at the time the Richmond Grand Resort & Casino’s backers declared defeat.

Two hours after the polls closed, the Richmond Wins, Vote Yes PAC jointly funded by casino developers Churchill Downs and Urban One conceded defeat in a statement that described their $10 million effort as “a community-centered campaign to create more opportunities for residents of this great city to rise into the middle class.”

“We are grateful to the thousands of Richmonders who voted for good jobs and a stronger city, especially those in Southside who poured their hearts into this project,” the PAC wrote.

Tuesday night’s results presented a far clearer rejection of the casino than a 2021 referendum that saw voters split 51% to 49% against the proposal and represented a blow for Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, a vocal cheerleader of the project.

“I will continue to be a voice for communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved,” said Stoney in a statement Tuesday. “I will work for more accessible and affordable child care, for good paying jobs, and for an abundance of opportunities for ALL Richmonders – no matter their zip code or socioeconomic status.”

Virginia’s General Assembly in 2020 allowed five cities around the state to hold referenda on casino gaming. Four of them — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth — have approved the establishments with little fanfare, but the issue has remained deeply controversial in Richmond. There, debates have emphasized the split among the city’s whiter neighborhoods, which have largely opposed the casino, and those with greater concentrations of Black people, particularly in Southside, which have shown more support for the idea.

Those tensions came to a head Friday when anti-casino group No Means No released a series of audio clips from local radio programs geared toward Black audiences that contained racially inflammatory remarks made by Urban One founder Cathy Hughes, one of the main backers of the project, and other Black casino proponents.

One radio host, who was fired Friday over his comments, accused casino opponent and Jewish lawyer Paul Goldman of being “a white Jew with a background of Judas.” In numerous other clips, Hughes implied that opposition to the casino was driven by racism, repeatedly using an offensive slur to refer to Black people and telling listeners, “Do not forget that they do not see you as a human being.”

This story is republished from Virginia Mercury, a sister publication of Kentucky Lantern and part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.?

Radio entrepreneur Cathy Hughes may have upended her push to build a casino in Richmond by letting her opinions fly on the radio.

Just days before Richmonders head to the polls to vote a second time on a proposed casino partly owned by Urban One, the media company Hughes founded, casino opponents published a series of audio clips revealing racially inflammatory remarks made by Hughes and other Black casino proponents on local radio programs geared toward Black audiences.

The clips include numerous examples of Hughes implying that opposition to the casino is driven by racism. At one point, she says, “Do not forget that they do not see you as a human being.”

“Even though you may have a house like theirs, a car like theirs, your children may go to the same schools — they see you as a n*****, alright?” Hughes said. “Wake up!”

In a different recording, local radio personality and occasional political candidate Preston Brown took aim at Richmond activist Paul Goldman, a Jewish lawyer and former aide to Gov. Doug Wilder who has been fighting to block the casino.

“He’s a white Jew with a background of Judas,” Brown said, referring to the biblical figure who betrayed Jesus.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who supports the casino and has received political contributions from donors tied to the project, denounced the Goldman remark in a social media post Friday.

“I unequivocally condemn the antisemitic remarks made by a guest host on The Box 99.5 FM regarding Paul Goldman,” Stoney said on X. “We must call out hate in all of its forms, and his remarks are completely unacceptable.”

Stoney did not mention any of the other controversial remarks made by Hughes and others, and his office refused to comment further.

In a statement Friday afternoon, Goldman, a former chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, suggested the response and limited apology overlooked “the true meaning of the damage they have done to Richmond.”

“For the love of money, for personal gain, they are willing to turn their casino project into a wedge of division, to attempt to win by a divisive strategy serving only their selfish interests,” Goldman said.

The audio clips, taken from multiple radio shows, were posted on the website of the No Means No anti-casino group. It’s unclear exactly when each comment was made, and the clips don’t show the full context of what preceded and came after each remark. Radio One, the station that aired Brown’s comments, did not immediately respond to a request for the full recordings of the shows from which the clips were taken. At least one of the clips posted by the anti-casino group was edited to condense multiple comments, according to a longer audio file of Brown’s remarks obtained by the Virginia Mercury. However, no one has come forward to dispute the accuracy of what the anti-casino group published.

Radio One, the station that aired Brown’s comment, issued a statement saying Brown was acting as a “temporary guest host” and is not employed by the station.

“These remarks were horrible and offensive,” said Marsha Landess, the station’s regional vice president. “Once we heard the comments and because he was alone in the studio with his producer, I personally drove to the station and immediately removed him from the show.? He will not be appearing again. Our CEO, Alfred Liggins, has personally apologized to Mr. Goldman on behalf of the station and our company.”

Liggins is the son of Hughes. Efforts to reach Brown Friday were unsuccessful.

Landess confirmed that the “primary voices” heard on most of the clips were Hughes and radio host Gary Flowers.

Richmond Wins Vote Yes, the pro-casino PAC funded by Urban One and its business partner Churchill Downs, also distanced itself from the remarks.

“Richmond Wins Vote Yes is about bringing people together to build a better Richmond and provide meaningful economic opportunity for the city and its people,” the PAC said. “This campaign unequivocally condemns the anti-Semitic language and divisive comments that were made on the air.”

Rae Cousins, a Democrat who is running unopposed this November to represent House District 79 where the casino would be located, said in an email that “in reviewing all of the radio snippets that have been released, I absolutely condemn these statements and adamantly stand against all forms of discrimination, hatred and divisiveness.”

“No matter where people stand on this or any political issue, we must agree that these kind of attacks have no place in our community,” she wrote.

Shots at Kaine’s family life

The recordings also include sharp criticism by Hughes, Brown and Flowers of Tim Kaine, one of Virginia’s two U.S. senators and previously state governor, mayor of Richmond and a member of the city council. In one clip where Hughes and others discuss the removal of Confederate monuments from Richmond in 2020, the Urban One head said, “Tim Kaine might have wanted one on his front yard.”

Kaine voted against the casino in the 2021 referendum, a decision Hughes appears to have been referencing when she referred to the “damage that he had done.”

“He knows the pain of the Black people of the Southside of Richmond. And yet … he’s saying that it is better for a Black man to get drunk off some beer that he financed, some craft beer in a local brewery, than to have a job. How do you equate that?” she asked.

That comment appears to be in reference to a criticism levied by Brown against the former governor in the longer version of his remarks obtained by the Mercury. In the extended remarks, Brown castigated Kaine for selling beer and wine at a church fundraiser this summer, saying, “He don’t want you to gamble, but he want to sell beer and wine, and it’s OK. You see why I say some people talk out of both sides of their face?”

In yet another clip, Brown noted Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, had disagreed on the casino issue in 2021, with Holton voting in favor of the proposal.

“The Bible said, ‘When two come together and agree,’” he said. “Now how can those two live in the same household and not agree? So how can we have him representing us as a senator when he can’t even keep his own home together?”

Asked about the remarks, Katie Stuntz, a spokesperson for Kaine, said Friday that the senator “is attending a friend’s funeral and is unavailable for comment.”

Virginia is new to the casino business

Virginia’s four other cities allowed to have casinos — Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth and Norfolk — have approved them without much drama.

It’s been a different story in Richmond, where the proposed casino has occasionally inflamed longstanding racial fault lines.

When the casino legalization bill was being discussed in 2020, some Black lawmakers in the General Assembly said they wanted at least some Black ownership of casinos in the industry rather than having Black people simply work in them. Urban One, which describes itself as “the largest local urban radio network” and a “leading voice speaking to Black America,” seemed to fit the bill when the company expressed interest in building a casino in Richmond.

When the project emerged in early 2021, it was described as America’s first and only Black-owned casino and pitched as a way to uplift South Richmond, an area in need of revitalization.

The state capital is overwhelmingly liberal and has had mostly Black political leadership for decades, but stark divides have persisted between the city’s wealthier, whiter areas and working-class Black neighborhoods that often feel left out of the city’s economic development efforts.

When Richmond voters rejected the first casino referendum two years ago, the lower-income minority neighborhoods closest to where the proposed casino would be built strongly supported the project. But opposition was high enough elsewhere in the city that it went down in defeat, sparking some criticism that white Richmond had scuttled a project Black Richmond wanted. Meanwhile, progressive activists who oppose the casino see themselves as fighting predatory gambling interests that drain money from the communities they seek to enter.

The proposed Richmond Grand Resort? and Casino on the ballot this year promises to create 1,300 jobs and generate $30 million in annual tax revenue. The “Black-owned” marketing has been largely dropped this year because Urban One is now pursuing the casino as a joint project with Churchill Downs, the horse racing and gambling enterprise that bought Virginia’s Colonial Downs racetrack last year.

The vote on this year’s casino referendum is expected to be close, but it wasn’t immediately clear Friday what impact the disclosure of the audio clips might have on the vote.

While Hughes in one recording released by casino opponents insisted the issue “is not about the color of a person’s skin,” other clips reveal her repeatedly casting the casino debate in racial terms.

In one clip, she characterizes Black opponents of the casino and Black supporters as, respectively, “house n****** and field n******.” In another, she says, “We have got to connect our Black middle class with our Black downtrodden and realize that we are one and the same in the eyes of white folks. White folks do not care.”

Hughes and Flowers specifically called out two casino opponents, marijuana legalization and civil rights advocate Chelsea Higgs Wise and former City Council candidate Allan-Charles Chipman, in one segment.

“These are not white folk pulling up signs and flying planes around the city,” said Flowers. “They’re paying for it, but they’ve hired Black people to do that — self-hating Black people.”

Chipman hit back on X after the recordings were circulated, writing, “I am not a self-hating Black person as they called me. I am an exploitation-hating Black man that firmly believes Dr. King is right when he said ‘Racism, economic exploitation, and militarism are all tied together. You can’t get rid of one without getting rid of the other.’”

With Nov. 7 looming, the clips make it clear that even the casino’s backers are unsure of what will happen Tuesday.

“I spent $10 million is what the final bill looks like to keep it in Richmond. Such a waste. I am so mad at this opposition,” said Hughes in one recording. “Do you know how much good I could have done with $10 million that I had to pay to lawyers and accountants and lobbyists and make contributions to everybody I thought could influence?”

This story has been updated to include comments from Rae Cousins.

In-person sports betting opened across Kentucky on Sept. 7. Churchill Downs in Louisville is one one of the nine racetracks eligible to operate retail locations and partner with operators of sports betting apps.(Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

Kentucky sports fans began placing online bets with mobile phones Thursday morning.?

As part of the state’s rollout for legalizing sports betting, mobile applications were approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in recent weeks. Users could also pre-register for accounts before Thursday in preparation to make wagers.?

Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear signed House Bill 551 after the legislation cleared the Republican-controlled General Assembly. In 2022, similar legislation was introduced but died in the Senate. Kentucky is the 37th state to legalize gambling on sports.

In-person sports betting opened Sept. 7. Politicians, including Beshear and Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, placed their bets at retail locations around Kentucky.?

Preliminary numbers show more than $4.5 million was wagered in Kentucky during the first two weekends of in-person sports betting, according to? a press release from the governor’s office last week,

Once fully implemented, sports betting is expected to bring in an estimated $23 million a year in state revenue.?

The new revenue will support sports betting oversight and then the Kentucky permanent pension fund.

Also, 2.5% of the funds will go to the Problem Gambling Assistance Fund, which provides education on safe gambling, the risks of a gambling problem and available resources to reduce consequences of problem gambling.?

To learn more about available resources, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537), visit KYCPG.org or email [email protected].?

In-person sports betting opened across Kentucky on Sept. 7. Churchill Downs in Louisville is one one of the nine racetracks eligible to operate retail locations and partner with operators of sports betting apps.(Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

LOUISVILLE — In-person sports betting opened to Kentuckians Thursday morning and some of the state’s top politicians celebrated by placing bets — Gov. Andy Beshear at Churchill Downs and Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer at the Red Mile.?

Democrat Beshear bet on the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville football teams and against Kentucky rival Duke University.?

Meanwhile, Thayer, R-Georgetown, joined the primary sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, and other lawmakers to place bets at Red Mile Gaming, a racetrack in Lexington.?

Beshear signed House Bill 551 passed by the General Assembly earlier this year after a 2022 attempt to legalize sports betting died in the Senate. Kentucky is the 37th state to legalize gambling on sports.

In a statement, Thayer said he was “honored to be here in my backyard” to celebrate with Meredith and other colleagues.??

“For years, those of us here today have advocated for sports betting and did so with the support of millions of Kentuckians,” Thayer said. “The legislature listened, we took action, and starting today, no Kentuckian will ever have to take their hard-earned money to another state just to place a sports bet.”

?Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman placed her own bet of $20 on the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl at an opening event at Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky.?

Later Thursday afternoon, the governor was scheduled to travel to Red Mile Gaming in Lexington to make another bet.

“This is something that the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky have wanted,” the governor said. “They want to keep their entertainment dollars in the state and make sure that the revenue that comes out of it stays in the state. So it’s an exciting day that we have wanted and hustled for and worked for so long.”?

Beshear is seeking reelection this year against his Republican opponent, Attorney General Daniel Cameron.??

Once it is fully implemented, sports betting is expected to bring in an estimated $23 million a year in state revenue.?

The new revenue dollars will support sports betting oversight and then the Kentucky permanent pension fund.

Also, 2.5% of the funds will go to the Problem Gambling Assistance Fund, which provides education on safe gambling, the risks of a gambling problem and available resources to reduce consequences of problem gambling.?

To learn more about available resources, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537), visit KYCPG.org or email [email protected].?

Approved mobile apps can begin taking wagers on Thursday, Sept. 28. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s website has a list of approved race and sports book retail locations.?

Only the state’s nine horse racetracks are eligible to operate retail sports betting which they can offer at all their sites. The tracks may also partner with up to three marketing platforms for mobile wagering.

The betting line and some of the nearly 400 proposition bets for Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos are displayed at the Race & Sports SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Feb. 2, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Kentuckians began pre-registering for online sports wagering apps Monday as part of the state’s timeline for implementing online sports betting.?

Approved mobile apps could start pre-registering accounts as early as 6 a.m. The apps can begin taking wagers on Thursday, Sept. 28. In-person sports betting begins in the state next week.?

Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed House Bill 551, which legalized sports betting in Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear signed the measure into law.?

Last week, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved temporary sports wagering licenses for the state’s horse racing tracks and their satellites, as well as service providers, including DraftKings and Bet365. Eight of the nine service providers approved for temporary licenses will have mobile app operations in Kentucky.?

Three operator licenses were approved for facilities that have yet to open but will soon. They were Derby City Gaming in Louisville, Ellis Park in Owensboro and Sandy’s Gaming and Racing in Ashland.?

On Thursday, Sept. 7, bettors can place an in-person bet at licensed retail facilities and begin depositing money into their pre-registered mobile accounts with approved mobile app.?

In a recent news conference, Beshear said he signed regulations last month to open sports betting ahead of the NFL and college football seasons. He plans to make the first sports wager at Churchill Downs.

“By finally passing sports betting, we’re giving people what they want. They can spend their entertainment dollars here instead of going to other states,” Beshear said. “And we expect to see at least $23 million in state revenue that we can put towards education, that we can continue to invest in infrastructure, that we can use to expand healthcare — real money to help our people.”

After the legislation was enacted, Kentucky became the 37th state to legalize sports betting. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban that had excluded most states from legalizing such gambling.

Kentucky Supreme Court Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer

FRANKFORT — Several Kentucky Supreme Court justices appeared to be skeptical of a new law that allows cases challenging the constitutionality of state laws and decisions to be randomly moved to any of Kentucky’s 120 counties.

The state’s highest court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the constitutionality of Senate Bill 126, which went into effect immediately after the GOP-dominated legislature voted to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear earlier this year.

The state’s “skill-based” gaming industry had challenged SB 126 in April in an effort to stop Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron from randomly moving their case from the courtroom of Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd, who has been the target of GOP criticism for past decisions. The industry had challenged a separate law banning such “skill-based” gaming machines often found in gas stations and convenience stores.

Instead of ruling whether SB 126 was constitutional himself, Shepherd in April asked the gaming and industry and the Attorney General’s office to petition the Supreme Court to take up the issue, which the court did so in June.

J. Guthrie True, an attorney for the gaming industry, told the justices the law was an “intolerable” overreach into the powers of the judicial branch that, if allowed to stand, could blur the “boundary” between the two branches of government.

“This statute removes any role from the court in a critical class of cases and adjudicating the issue of transfer — it leaves no room for the court to make a decision. It leaves no room for this court’s rulemaking authority,” True said.

Under SB 126, plaintiffs, defendants or the Attorney General as an intervening defendant in lawsuits challenging state laws and decisions, can file a motion to direct the clerk of the Kentucky Supreme Court to pick a new county circuit court at random to hear the case.

Theoretically, that could move a lawsuit filed in a Western Kentucky county hundreds of miles to a courtroom in Eastern Kentucky, something brought up in pointed criticism by Justice Michelle Keller.

“Within all those lofty ideals that we all work for every day is included access to the courts and access to justice,” Keller said, adding there are “some people that will be precluded when they have to travel from one end of the Commonwealth to the other.”

Kentucky Solicitor General Matthew Kuhn represented the Attorney General’s office in advocating for SB 126, echoing arguments previously made by the office that the law aimed to level the “playing field” for lawsuit participants concerned that a particular courtroom could be biased against them.

The Kentucky legislature in 2021 passed a law allowing a plaintiff to file a constitutional challenge in their home county, seeking to diminish the influence of Franklin Circuit Court in constitutional challenges. That court has traditionally heard such cases because of its location as the seat of state government and where most agencies, officials and lawyers involved in challenges are also located.

By allowing for a randomized change of venue, Kuhn said, it removes any advantage a plaintiff could receive by filing a case in a specific county.

“If the plaintiff gets to select, the defendant has an ability to take away that selection,” Kuhn said. “Nobody can get an advantage through venue selection.”

But several justices pushed back against Kuhn’s arguments, questioning the basis for the law to address alleged bias of judges.

Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter said it didn’t “make any sense” that a plaintiff could ask for a randomized transfer under SB 126 if they already had the ability to file in their home county.

Justice Angela Bisig asked Kuhn why it wasn’t “jarringly disproportionate” to pass a law to “root out bias” that didn’t require a showing of a judge’s bias to have a case transferred. Justice Christopher Nickell also pointed out the law didn’t require proof of bias and asked Kuhn if the state’s existing judicial recusal process was insufficient.

“Tell me how a location can be biased,” Nickell said. “Are we not really focusing on perceived personal bias of particular judges in specific cases, and why would that not be a matter regarding recusal?”

Lawsuit participants can request a judge recuse themself by filing a motion with reasoning for a recusal. The judge can then decide whether to recuse themself and transfer the case, often to another judge in the same county or a nearby county.

Kuhn responded that SB 126 isn’t about “one judge,” reiterating his argument that the law is about “strategic venue selection.”

“We want to spread these constitutional challenges out among the Commonwealth,” Kuhn said.

Justice Kelly Thompson specifically mentioned to Kuhn the “perceived problem” the state legislature has with Franklin Circuit Court and asked why the state legislature hadn’t worked with the judiciary on a rule to address concerns about alleged bias.

“We’re willing to work with them,” Thompson said. “But they haven’t talked to us about this. They just dropped it.”

Keller in responding to Kuhn said she ultimately didn’t understand how the “playing field” was being leveled through “completely random selection” of moving a case.

“I don’t see how a random selection by our clerk, whoever he or she may be at the time, is necessarily guaranteeing any particular plaintiff or defendant for that matter a more fair proceeding than the current regime, I mean, without some allegation of specific bias,” Keller said.

The justices gave no indication of when a decision on the law’s constitutionality would be made.

Other lawsuits where SB 126’s randomized transfer power was invoked are on hold awaiting a decision from the state’s highest court.

Legal and advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Kentucky Resources Council have filed a brief asking the justices to strike down the law, and Republican leadership in the legislature, including Senate President Robert Stivers, have asked for the law to be ruled constitutional.

True, the attorney for the gaming industry, said the Attorney General’s office has been “cooperative” and anticipated things would move quickly whenever a decision is made by the state’s highest court.

“We feel like our position is a very, very sound, constitutional position,” Guthrie said. “This statute should be stricken.”

"This magic pen makes it a law," Gov. Andy Beshear told Emorie Meredith, daughter of Rep. Michael Meredith, behind them, as he signed regulations for sports gambling in Kentucky. Public Protection Cabinet Secretary Ray Perry is on the right. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Jamie Lucke)

LEXINGTON — Gamblers can begin casting legal sports bets at racetrack-related locations across Kentucky on Sept. 7 and through mobile apps on Sept. 28, under emergency regulations signed yesterday by Gov. Andy Beshear at the Red Mile.

The legislature earlier this year made Kentucky the 37th state to legalize sports betting. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way in 2018 by striking down a federal ban that had excluded most states from legalizing such gambling.

Sports bettors in Kentucky must be 18 or older. Some states have set the minimum age at 21. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, explained that 18 is consistent with Kentucky’s other wagering laws.

Only Kentucky’s nine racetracks are eligible to apply for licenses, beginning Tuesday, to operate retail sports betting sites. They can offer sports betting at all of their locations, including satellite “historical horse racing” gambling halls and simulcasting venues.?

Each track also is permitted to partner with up to three marketing platforms for mobile wagering.

The legislature made the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which developed and approved the regulations, responsible for oversight and enforcement of sports betting.

Racing commission officials during a special meeting Monday said the regulations are designed to protect bettors. The commission plans to add 14 new employees to carry out its new responsibilities.

Beshear said the state anticipates $23 million a year in tax revenue from sports wagering and that the law will keep entertainment and tax dollars now going to surrounding states in Kentucky.

A quarterhorse racetrack being developed in Ashland and a harness racing track in Corbin may not be ready in time to open for retail sports betting by Sept. 7, Beshear said, although their mobile partners can begin taking bets on Sept. 28.?

Gov. Andy Beshear, seated, shows his signature on Senate Bill 47 to Sen. Steve West. (Photo for Kentucky Lantern by McKenna Horsley)

FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear called Friday an “amazing” day as he signed two pieces of legislation — legalizing medical marijuana and sports betting — that were passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.?

With legislative sponsors and advocates gathered around him in the Capitol Rotunda, Beshear signed Senate Bill 47 and House Bill 551. Both bills received their final floor votes Thursday night, the last time lawmakers met before adjourning until next January.?

Beshear told reporters after signing the bills that the bipartisanship behind the legislation was clear and showed that his administration can work with the General Assembly.?

“Today’s pretty amazing. We passed two pieces of legislation that took both Democrats and Republicans — would not have passed without them — people coming together to do what’s right for the people of Kentucky,” the governor said.?

The medical marijuana law does not go into effect until 2025 to give the Cabinet for Health and Family Services time to establish regulations and licensing. Kentucky will be joining 37 other states in legalizing medical marijuana. Next session, lawmakers are expected to debate amendments to the new law.?

Beshear thanked bill sponsors as well as advocates for medical marijuana, as they “have made the difference” in generating support for the legislation by sharing their stories. Beshear at the start of the year signed an executive order to set criteria for Kentuckians with certain medical conditions to access medical cannabis in small amounts.

Legalization came after about five years of “a hard-fought legislative effort,” the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said on Friday.

West thanked two of his constituents, Eric and Michelle Crawford, vocal proponents for the legalization of medical marijuana. Eric told a House committee on Thursday cannabis made him “comfortable” after living with injuries from a car crash more than two decades ago.?

“This bill is how the legislative process should work,” West said Friday. “I represent Mason County, Kentucky. Eric and Michelle are my constituents. When I first started, I had no idea. I did not want to be involved in medical marijuana. I had no idea what the issue was all about. They had a resolution passed at the Mason County Fiscal Court, and they got me involved and I listened.”

Beshear also signed HB 551 legalizing sports betting in Kentucky.

“This was really a team effort,” primary sponsor Rep. Michael Merdith, R-Oakland, told the gathering in the Rotunda. “It took House leadership on the Republican side. It took Democratic House leadership. It took leadership on the Republican side of the Senate and leadership on the Democratic side of the Senate, and it took your efforts and your staff’s efforts to get this done on the very last day of this session,” Meredith told Beshear.?

An amendment added by Meredith dedicates about 2.5% of the annual tax revenue from sports betting to addressing gambling addiction. The representative has previously said the legislation is anticipated to bring in $23 million annually to the state.?

While Republicans at the bill-signing joined Beshear in praising the bipartisan effort, the Republican Party of Kentucky issued a statement striking a different note.

The RPK statement referred to Beshear’s answer to reporters about whether he would get involved in a lawsuit challenging the ban on “gray machine” gaming passed this session.

“Moments after he took credit for two Republican pieces of legislation he had nothing to do with, Andy Beshear was back to his old ways, threatening lawsuits against the state legislature,” RPK spokesman Sean Southard said. “His legal threats against the People’s House proves how truly irrelevant he is to the policymaking process. He can’t move or stop legislation; he must sue to get his way. It’s time we had a Republican Governor who will work with our supermajorities in the legislature, instead of one who threatens and sues them.”

On the “gray gaming” ban lawsuit, Beshear said: ““I’m typically in enough lawsuits, so we’ll see how that proceeds,” before adding that he trusted the courts to “do the right thing.”

“My guess is that we will see some litigation that involves the governor’s office coming out of this session,” the governor said. “We did have some bills that violate the separation of powers as to the judiciary as well as the governor’s office itself.”

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Democratic Party put out a statement touting Beshear’s leadership in passing the legislation.?

“Because Governor Beshear exerted the leadership and political pressure that he did, the General Assembly passed two key legislative priorities that are going to pay dividends for Kentuckians. This is a big deal for our Commonwealth,” said KDP Chair Colmon Elridge. “People who deserve relief will now have legal access to medical cannabis, and with the legalization of sports betting we will stop seeing millions of dollars in revenue leave the borders of our state each year. These two policies have been proposed in Kentucky for years and years — under Governor Beshear’s leadership we finally got them done.”

Damon Thayer (Photo by LRC Public Information)

FRANKFORT — A bill to legalize sports betting in Kentucky overcame a hurdle that’s stopped it in the past with the Kentucky Senate approving the measurel in the final hours of this year’s legislative session.?

The bill has full passage from the GOP-controlled Kentucky legislature and would just need to be signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who has previously signaled support for such legislation.?

House Bill 551’s fate was uncertain in the Senate after it won bipartisan passage in the House by a 63-34 vote. The bill needed 60 votes in that chamber given that Kentucky statutes require bills raising revenue in an odd-numbered year to have the approval of three-fifths of the body.?

Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, a supporter of the bill, told reporters multiple times leading up to the Thursday evening Senate vote that he didn’t believe it had the votes for passage but that the vote count was close. The House had approved a sports gambling bill last year, but it didn’t receive a vote on the Senate floor.?

HB 551 ultimately won passage in the Senate by a vote of 25-12, reaching the required three-fifths voting threshold.?

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, said he was a surprising “yes” vote on the bill in that he was personally against legalizing sports betting but that he’s listened to constituents in his newly-drawn district.?

“I’ve made a pretty hard case against this bill at home,” Smith said. “But I will tell you I’ve come up short. The voters of my new district want to have this freedom.”?

Those opposing the legislation, which included several Republicans, made various arguments against the bill ranging from whether it would hurt Kentuckians with gambling addiction or concerns how it would affect college sports in Kentucky.?

Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, before voting “no” said any people would be making bets on sports through their smartphones and that the money spent on sports betting could better be spent elsewhere.?

“Whatever money is spent on that app gambling on whatever sport you want to bet on is money that’s not spent in a church offering plate. It’s not spent on a United Way campaign, it’s not spent in a nonprofit that needs you,” Westerfield said.?

Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, in voting “yes” said she understood the arguments Westerfield was making but that there were measures in the bill to help people who have problems with gambling.?

“I don’t feel that I was elected to be the morality police,” Berg said.? As long as they’re not hurting anybody else, and we do have provisions in this bill that will put aside money to help people who do have a problem with addiction.”?

Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, added an amendment to the bill in the House that will dedicate about 2.5% of the generated annual tax revenue from sports betting to go toward addressing gambling addiction. Meredith has previously said the legislation is anticipated to bring in $23 million annually to the state.?

Kentucky Capitol (Getty Images)

FRANKFORT — Legislation that would ban so-called “gray machines” in Kentucky received final passage Tuesday in the GOP-controlled Kentucky Senate and heads to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk.?

House Bill 594, sponsored by Rep. Killian?Timoney, R-Nicholasville, saw much less resistance among Republicans than when it was approved by the House last week, passing the upper chamber by a vote of 29-6.?

Such machines are slot-style devices common in many bars and gas stations across the state that derive their moniker from their murky legal status that opponents characterize as illegal gaming. Proponents of such machines like to refer to them as “skill games” instead, saying such a ban would let the horse racing industry monopolize gambling in the state.

Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, advocated for the bill on the Senate floor, mentioning that various groups from retailers to the “charitable gaming industry” to the University of Kentucky were consulted on the language.?

“Yes, the racetracks have seen and contributed to this language. They don’t like all of it, but they’re not opposing the bill,” Wilson said. “And no, it’s not a Churchill Downs bill.”?

Wilson referenced attacks that proponents of these gray machines have made asserting that the legislation is backed by Kentucky’s premier horse track and that it would hurt small businesses that host these machines.?

Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, voted for the legislation but said the body was being “wildly inconsistent” given that the legislature had approved a bill to allow historical horse racing machines, which Westerfield called “slots,” in 2021.?

“I sure wish the passion for stopping these machines had been here two years ago. Because it’s the exact opposite scenario: instead of wanting to help an industry we’re trying to stop an industry,” Westerfield said.?

Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, said there’s “no doubt that gaming is here” in the state and was voting for the bill with the hope that lawmakers could revisit the issue to potentially regulate such machines.

“I wasn’t for an outright ban if they could be properly regulated,” Yates said. “That’s not before us.”

Speaker Pro Tem David Meade presided over the House earlier in the session. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

FRANKFORT ?— Two gambling-related bills — one to legalize betting on sports contests and another to ban so-called ‘gray machines’ — advanced in the Kentucky legislature Wednesday.?

House Bill 551, sponsored by Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, would legalize sports gambling in Kentucky and advanced out of the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee.?

“I’m here to tell you about taking an industry that exists in darkness and in the shadows and legitimizing it, legalizing it, and regulating it to protect consumers in Kentucky,” Meredith said in testimony.?

Meredith said while the tax revenue generated by the legislation is anticipated to bring only $23 million to the state, that’s potential money “not being given to any government right now or being given to one of our border states.”?

The Kentucky House of Representatives also changed its mind on a bill to ban “gray machines,” or slot-style machines common in many bars and gas stations across the state that derive their? name from their murky legal status.?

House Bill 594, sponsored by Rep. Kim Timoney, R-Nicohlasville, was tabled while being considered for a full House vote on Friday, raising questions about if such a ban could ultimately see passage. It’s an issue that has split Republicans in the House, with opponents of the ban saying it would let the horse racing industry monopolize gambling in the state, while advocates say it would outlaw illegal gaming machines.?

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to “untable” the bill and passed the legislation 64-32, it seeing very little debate on the House floor. Kentucky Republicans had recessed for an hours-long caucus on Tuesday; Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne said the “gray machines” ban came up in that closed-door discussion.?

“The tabling motion caught some people off guard, but I think once we were able to explain a little better, most people came on board,” Osborne said.?

Osborne said the bill to legalize sports betting could be considered by the full House by the end of this week.?

Bills to ban “gray machines” and legalize sports betting both died in last year’s legislative session. A House bill to legalize sports betting was never heard on the Senate floor, and the House and Senate were unable to concur on changes made to legislation banning “gray machines” in the final days of the session.?

Osborne said House leaders have been sharing information with Senate leaders in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last year’s impasse. “We have shared language throughout the process with them, hoping to avoid what we had last year, which was both chambers passing a version of a bill that we weren’t able to agree on at the end,” Osborne said in reference to the “gray machines” ban. “It’s my understanding that they’re fully committed to passing it as is.”