BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A rule change unraveled a legislative committee Thursday as Idaho lawmakers expressed dismay over the state's increasingly slot-like machines, known as instant horse racing terminals.
   House State Affairs Committee members held off approving a rule seeking to slow the proliferation of instant racing machines in Idaho. According to the proposed rule, licensees would be required to have a simulcasting license, which allows broadcasting live races occurring elsewhere, before they could install instant racing machines.
   Republican Rep. Vito Barbieri of Dalton Gardens says the committee needs more time to research the issue. Barbieri said he's concerned that the machines may be in violation even if the law that approved them is legal under the constitution.
   "If we're going to allow gambling, let's change the constitution," he said. "I would support that. But for now, the constitution says gambling is illegal and changing the constitution takes a lot more work than changing the law."
   Lawmakers acknowledged the move was "unorthodox" for just a proposed rule change. Idaho legislators usually spend the first few weeks slugging through a list of generally mundane rule changes ‚Äîeven though the rules are treated like extensions of the law.
   Idaho Racing Commission Executive Director Frank Lamb said the rule change was sparked as a response to legislative concern that the terminals were spreading.
   Instant racing terminals were approved by the Idaho Legislature in 2013. Horse racing officials argued that instant racing would be the shot in the arm needed to revive their dying industry and breathe life back into the aging horse tracks. Back then, lawmakers passed the bill with little to no opposition from even the most conservative Republicans or outside lobbyists.
   Over time, the machines have been updated and expanded to three of the eight racing tracks in Idaho.
   Racing officials say the terminals ‚Äîcomplete with wheels, animation and only a 2-inch screen for three seconds of a horse race‚Äî look like slot machines because there is a demand for it in Idaho. Bettors wage on past races, but all identifiable information is unknown before placing a bet. Officials argue gamblers aren't betting against the house, but a pool of other gamblers.
   Yet, for lawmakers, the line of what is legal and what is being played is blurry.
   Democratic Rep. Melissa Wintrow of Boise said she visited the Les Bois Park‚ which has 200 instant racing terminals‚Äî outside Boise. Upon entering, Wintrow said she thought she was walking into a casino. Boise Republican Rep. Lynn Luker said he felt the Legislature had been "deceived."
   Meanwhile, four Idaho tribes have demanded the state stop all instant racing activity, coming just shy of announcing a lawsuit. And in northern Idaho, the Post Falls police are investigating instant racing at Greyhound Park.
   Coeur d'Alene Tribe lobbyist Bill Roden says he will introduce legislation Friday that would repeal the statute that permits the machines. He urged lawmakers to reject the rule change, saying that it would put an additional stamp of approval on the activity.
   "Today, what you're seeing is a slot machine," he said.
