Kentucky House of Representatives

In a vote late Thursday night, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill to establish an independent Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, according to a press release from Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown), the primary sponsor of the legislation. Senate Bill (SB) 299 revises Thayer's original proposal to attach the commission to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture administratively. The legislative effort was revised following further conversations with stakeholders and House Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect), which would now establish an independent Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation. In...

One day after Kentucky's state senate adopted a resolution by voice vote to urge a review of the HISA funding methodology, the Kentucky House of Representatives did the same. House Resolution 98, "A resolution expressing concerns regarding the unintended consequences of the current funding methodology of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act," was adopted by a voice vote in the House. The resolution was sponsored by Republican representative Matthew Koch, and Democratic representative Al Gentry. The language is identical to that of its companion resolution in the Senate, contained...

By unanimous voice vote after zero public discussion among commissioners at a "special" meeting, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) on Tuesday quickly approved a license awarding a Quarter Horse racino license for a track to be constructed in the northeastern part of the state. The license is the ninth and final of its kind to be awarded in Kentucky. Although the focus of press releases announcing the deal accentuated the rebirth of Quarter Horse racing in a state better known as the nation's Thoroughbred epicenter, the real prize for...

In an attempt to get around a controversial rule by The Jockey Club (TJC) that mandates that stallions born from 2020 onward will only be allowed to cover up to 140 mares, the Speaker of Kentucky's House of Representatives on Feb. 14 co-filed a bill that would prohibit "a registrar of Thoroughbreds" from restricting "the number of mares that can be bred to a stallion or otherwise refuse to register any foal based upon the number of mares bred to the stallion." In addition, the measure would empower the Kentucky...