Management Council advances bill draft aimed at removing skill games from grocery stores; Salazar votes ‘yes’

(Cheyenne, WY) – A legislative proposal aimed at removing skill-based amusement games from grocery stores like Smith’s in Riverton took another procedural step forward last month when it was approved by the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council.

The bill draft says skill-based amusement games may only be located at truck stops, smoke shops, or businesses that are licensed to sell alcohol “for consumption on the licensed or permitted premises.”

Smith’s locations

Under current law, any business licensed to sell alcohol may host skill-based amusement games, and there are no rules restricting where the machines can be placed within the establishment – even if they’re located in an area that isn’t age-restricted, like near the checkout aisle at Smith’s.

“We have to do something about this,” Wyoming Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, said when he introduced the legislation to the Management Council last month. “I don’t believe, legislatively, it was ever the intent … to allow a common area like a grocery store, where families go into, to (host) these skill games, which are quite visible.”

When the Smith’s grocery store in Rock Springs started hosting skill-based amusement games, Kolb said local residents told him their children were asking questions about the machines. 

“Their kids see this and they want to go over there and play the games,” Kolb said. “I think that’s wrong. …  I don’t want to entice children into doing this kind of activity. And that’s the reason why that bill draft is there.”

Later in the meeting, Kolb noted that the skill-based gaming area located at one of the Rock Springs grocery stores was eventually “shut down” after officials determined that minors were utilizing the machines. 

During that investigation, Kolb said officials also visited the skill-based gaming locations at the grocery stores in Casper and Riverton, but “they couldn’t find anything wrong (like) what happened in Rock Springs.”

Rules

There was some question last month as to whether the Wyoming Gaming Commission could address the grocery store issue by creating rules regulating where skill-based amusement games can be located within a business – but Kolb argued that, if the Commission had that power, they would have exercised it when they originally issued the permits for the grocery store locations.

“(The Gaming Commission) can do things like change the height of the barrier between the skill-based machines and where the public looks – that’s within the statutory authority they have,” Kolb said. “But they can’t stop what’s going on now with these skill games in the grocery store. They lack the statutory authority to do it. (And) that’s the reason why this is necessary. … It is necessary that we do something about this grocery store skill game situation, or else it’s going to get worse.”

Wyoming Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, agreed with Kolb’s assessment.

“I think we actually have to change the statute,” Crago said. “Reading the statute, I don’t think (the Commission) could have prevented that, by rule. I think the applicant was within the realm of what our statute says, which was pretty vague. And so I think we need to do something moving forward if we want to stop it, or at least give the commission clear statutory authority to stop it.”

Based on the uncertainty, Wyoming Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, who is a member of the Management Council, said it would be better to have the legislation in place.

“I support this bill,” Salazar said during last month’s meeting. “Supposedly the Gaming Commission might be able to do something, but what if we find out in three weeks (that they) can’t? …

“I haven’t received anything from the gaming commission stating that they would be able to promulgate rules that would stop this, so I agree … that this legislation is needed. I think it gives the state legislature an option – and all the while we’re talking about this, we still have people in checkout lines in grocery stores with children looking at these machines. So, I think the state legislature needs to act.” 

Wyoming Gaming Commission Executive Director Nicholas Larramendy later confirmed that, without a change in statute, his agency is required to issue permits for eligible skill-based gaming operations in businesses like grocery stores. 

The Gaming Commission is “looking at” developing rules requiring those skill-based amusement games to be located in age-restricted areas, Larramendy said – but Crago reiterated that, in his opinion, the Commission doesn’t currently have the statutory authority to create those kinds of regulations.

“We need to move this bill forward,” Crago said. “We all need to vote for it (and) get it to session.”

The Management Council approved the legislative proposal unanimously.

If the bill becomes law, Kolb said the licenses currently in place allowing skill-based amusement games in local grocery stores would remain valid until they come up for renewal.

“That’s why taking action as soon as we can is important,” he pointed out. “When (these permits) get renewed, that’s when they can be revisited. So, the sooner we get something in place legislatively, the sooner they can take action on these issues.”