The House has voted 49-21 in favor of SB 1011, the bill to repeal instant racing in Idaho, sending the repeal bill to Gov. Butch Otter; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.The bill earlier passed the Senate on a 25-9 vote; its fate is now up to Otter. However, the margins of approval for the bill exceeded two-thirds in both houses – meaning if Otter were to veto the bill, there’s enough support in both houses to override the veto.

The House debate lasted for two hours, stretching through the noon hour despite lawmakers’ hunger pains. “Historical horse racing machines were a good idea, instant racing machines were not,” said Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise. Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, said he’s not persuaded that the fact that instant racing machines are on a network makes them pari-mutuel betting rather than slot machines. “Las Vegas does that as well, it’s called progressive slots – they’re all tied together, it increases the pot,” he told the House, as Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, vigorously shook her head in disagreement.

Perry urged the House not to support the bill, saying gambling in Idaho is a reality. “We offer it at the state level, we offer it at the tribal level, and we have a private business that has asked to do it too,” she said. “I don’t understand why we are OK with wiping out people’s investments and wiping out people’s jobs.” Rep. Lynn Luker, R-Boise, said if lawmakers waited for courts to rule instant racing machines illegal, they’d still see the same impacts. “The longer this goes on, the bigger the stakes,” he said. “So it’s better we go back to the drawing board right now than to let this drag on.”

Here's how the vote broke down:

Voting in favor: Reps. Anderson, Andrus, Bateman, Batt, Bell, Beyeler, Boyle, Burtenshaw, Chew, Drane, Dayley, DeMordaunt, Erpelding, Gannon, Harris, Hartgen, Hixon, Holtzclaw, Horman, Jordan, Kauffman, Kerby, King, Loertscher, Luker, Malek, McCrostie, McDonald, Miller, Monks, Nate, Nielsen, Nye, Packer, Palmer, Pence, Raybould, Romrell, Rubel, Rudolph, Rusche, Shepherd, Sims, Smith, Thompson, Trujillo, Vander Woude, Wills, and Wintrow.

Voting against: Reps. Anderst, Barbieri, Chaney, Cheatham, Clow, Collins, Dixon, Gestrin, Gibbs, Kloc, McMillan, Mendive, Moyle, Perry, Redman, Scott, Troy, VanOrden, Wood, Youngblood, and Bedke.