Senate Finance

Tuesday, April 21, 2026·▶ Watch / Listen

Senate Finance advanced a slimmed-down gaming and sports betting bill, SB26-163, after sponsor Dylan Roberts stripped out a contentious plan to fold Colorado's separate Racing Commission into the Gaming Commission — a retreat that horse racing witnesses welcomed and that left the once-sweeping measure focused on self-exclusion, licensing efficiency and gray-market enforcement.

Key Actions

·Regulation of Gaming & Sports BettingPassed

Notable Quotes

“On the other hand, horse welfare is something completely foreign to the Gaming Commission. We need to preserve a racing commission that not only cares about the gambling side of the business, but is equally, if not more, greatly concerned about the welfare of the horses”
Mark Hillman (witness, Colorado Thoroughbred Breeders Association) · witness — Crystallizes the core objection that drove the sponsor to strip the consolidation: that a gaming-focused body would lack the horse-welfare expertise of the standalone Racing Commission.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Referred to Committee of the WholeAction

Yes (8)Scott Bright, Chris Kolker, Dylan Roberts, Marc Snyder, Cathy Kipp, Cleave Simpson, Janice Marchman, Lisa Frizell

Excused (1)Adrienne Benavidez

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TranscriptPreview

Good afternoon. Welcome to Senate Finance. Ms. Buderbusch, will you please take the roll. Senators Benavides. Here. Wright. Here. Brazil. Excused. Polker. Here. Roberts. Here. Simpson. Excused. Snyder. Snyder say here. Marchman. Excused. Madam Chair. Okay, great. We are here to hear one bill today, SB26, 163. Oh, and let the record reflect Senator Marchman is here. Vice Chair Marchman and Senator Roberts, please tell us about your bill. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Finance Committee for hearing this bill today. I'm here to present Senate Bill 163. As many of you know, I represent the limited gaming communities in Gilpin county which are Blackhawk in Central City. So I have worked a little bit on various policies related to ensuring that our gaming framework is effective, well regulated and responsive to a changing industry. This version of this bill before you today is going to be hopefully more focused than the introduced version. I just want to say from the start that I have drafted and given to Ms. Rudebush amendments to remove all portions of the introduced version of the bill that have to deal with the Horse Racing Commission. So it's our intent to…

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