Connie Winn, the director of the Oregon Racing Commission, stumbled out of eviction today when questioned in a hearing prior to the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development.
Winn provided an update on her firm’s activities and budget plan Feb. 13 and after that asked committee members if they had concerns. It was a regular efficiency comparable to the one every firm goes through—up until the concerns began.
What followed was uncommon (see short video listed below).
Subcommittee co-chair David Gomberg (D-Otis), asked Winn about her firm’s compliance with 2022 legislation that restricted who can bank on dog racing in Oregon.
Gomberg and previous Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) passed a bill in 2015 that forbade online wagering centers Winn’s firm licenses from accepting bets on dog races from individuals in states where, like Oregon, dog racing is forbidden. That restricts deep space of states to about 10 where dog racing is still legal.
Gomberg wished to know whether the Racing Commission was following the brand-new law and declining to permit licensees to accept dog bets from Oregonians. But Winn decreased to inform him, mentioning guidance from her firm’s lawyer at the Oregon Department of Justice.
A disbelieving Gomberg pushed his point, noting he’d initially put the concern to Winn in composing Oct. 5 and regardless of follow-ups, hadn’t gotten a response.
She held company. “I’ve been advised not to comment,” Winn said.
The Racing Commission manages horse racing in Oregon. It remained in the thick of a dispute in 2015 in between a few of the state’s 9 acknowledged people and a business moneyed by Travis Boersma, the creator of Dutch Bros., over Boersma’s desire to broaden racing at Grants Pass Downs and broaden wagering there on what’s called historic horse racing. Based on a DOJ legal opinion that the growth would break Oregon’s restriction on off-reservation gambling establishments, Gov. Kate Brown purchased the Racing Commission to turn down the Grants Pass growth. It did so unhappily
As horse racing diminishes (Portland Meadows closed in 2019, leaving Grants Pass as the state’s only industrial horse track) the commission depends on the licensure of what are called “advanced deposit wagering” business, which use banking on horse and dog races all over the world. The ADW business accredit in Oregon manage a great deal of bets—more than $5 billion in the first three quarters of 2022.
Winn’s rejection to respond to Gomberg’s concerns about the bettng on dogs remains in some methods comparable to the aggressive defense that Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission chair Paul Rosenbaum provided of that embattled firm at a commission conference Feb. 14.
Gov. Tina Kotek reacted to Rosenbaum by demanding his resignation.
A spokesperson for the DOJ said the firm might not instantly explain why it’s taking so long for the Racing Commission to respond to Gomberg’s concerns.
Winn decreased to comment. Here’s the video:
