Regulator ban.

That was the choice presented to state lawmakers when it comes to coin operated slot style machines with cash payouts.

That number in the thousands across the state and restaurants, bars, truck stops and elsewhere.

Yesterday, the House resurrected a bill that had been tabled on Friday to outlaw them altogether.

They're often called gray machines because they operate in a gray area of the law.

But supporters believe they're already legal and require a level of skill.

Lexington Republican Killian Antimony, sponsor is House Bill 594 and chronicles the bill's journey to the Senate, where it's awaiting action and its chances in the upper chamber.

I had whipped the votes that they were there to pass the bill and there were the vote to table A bill is definitely something that the only other time I've seen it happen was 608 last year for my Great Machine Bill last year, and that's in the three years I've been here.

It's only happened twice and both to me.

So it's I don't know if I should be impressed or whatever with that, but it's a unique vote.

It's a simple majority of the number of people voting, and there are a number of different votes that we do here in Frankfort.

And that was one of the ones that some of our newer members were unsure of.

Is this something that requires 51 Because when they heard simple majority, some felt like it was 51.

Some knew that that was just just a majority of the number that were voting.

There were people who didn't vote who felt like, well, if it doesn't get to 51, then it's, you know, we're just going to move on.

So there were a lot of procedural things and a lot of people came to me and like, I'm really confused.

Like, I don't want these machines, but I was part of it not passing today.

So there was so much so much commentary about that that, you know, leadership said, hey, listen, we need to fix this.

And so it wasn't necessarily objections on the bill.

It was just a misunderstanding of the procedural activities that were going on.

More or less.

I'd say 50, 50, 50, 50, you know.

You know, when the motion to table the bill was made, there was a chorus of seconds.

Right?

And so that was obviously indicative of the second part, the group that did not want the bill to pass.

And we do know there was a competing measure by Representative Don.

He's the one who made the motion on Friday to table the bill and he got those quick seconds to do so.

So can we assume now that your bill has advanced out of the House and now is in the possession of the Senate, that his bill that would regulate gray machines or skill games, as his side would call it, is dead for the session?

I would I would say that just because of the time frame that's left, obviously special call meetings and those types of things, but that the pushing that bill forward, we would have to be in agreement that was the best bill that we would want moving forward on the regulation side.

And I think you can make an argument that, you know, you can argue between because there was another bill that was filed by Tom Odell Smith about regulation, and we have to have that conversation.

It's not just his bill.

There's another bill out there, too, that we would have to decide.

And as as some of our members were so wrought with indecision on this one, I don't know if they would be able to make a decision in enough time in order to pass that.

So what do you know about the temperature of the Senate caucus, the GOP caucus there?

We seem to have some split that Senator and Majority Leader Desmond Thayer says he's on your side on this.

Yes, but that may not be the consensus broadly and that GOP caucus in the Senate.

Well, I believe that the makeup is going to be very similar to what it was last year.

And I knew that just getting it to the Senate was not going to be a slam dunk.

And I knew that that was something that we're going to have to continue to work and continue to try to make sure that we're doing what we're supposed to do.

But I'm confident we have.

I personally have anecdotally whipped the votes there.

And I know, Senator, therapy is extremely confident that we'll be able to get it through L.A..

I know there are some outspoken opponents and and all highly respected members of the Senate, just as there were very prominent members of the of the House that were also opponents of this.

So I know it's going to be a tall task.

It's not going to be easy.

This was never an easy thing.

This was never going to be easy in the beginning.

But I do believe I'm confident that we'll be able to get it through.

So as we end, we're day 24 as we're talking now.

So just a few days left tomorrow, and then you have Monday through Thursday before you recess for the gubernatorial veto recess.

So as you think about sports betting and your bill, some have said, I don't know if we're going to vote on to gambling measures, whether, you know, just because they're gambling measures.

So if you have to lose out to sports betting, how's that going to sit with you?

You know, not very well.

But at the same time, I you know, I'm confident with my votes on both of those because for me, the Gray Machine bill was restoring the proper process for how we pass gaming legislation.

We have a process for it.

We're fixing the Gray Machine bill.

We're fixing the great machine industry with my bill.

But the sports gaming bill is being done the correct way.

If they were just if Keeneland or Churchill were just operating sports gaming freely now and we were coming in, that would be very similar to different processes, same outcome.