CHEYENNE - Three bills that would expand the scope of lawful gambling in the state received favorable recommendations from a legislative panel Thursday.

The bills now go to the full Senate for debate and votes.

House Bill 92 would broaden legal pari-mutuel wagering to all professional rodeo events. Currently, pari-mutuel wagering is allowed only on roping events.

HB 93 would let bettors set up accounts with licensed companies and phone in their bets for pari-mutuel wagering, and HB 94 would authorize sales of pull tabs at any place where pari-mutuel wagering is allowed. They can now only be sold by nonprofit groups.

The only company operating in the state that would benefit from the proposals is Wyoming Downs, Inc., which owns Wyoming's only active horse-racing track, which is in the Evanston area, and also runs four off-track betting sites.

Dick Wallis, lobbyist for Wyoming Downs, said his company needs expanded gambling options to help offset the $300,000 loss the track suffers each year.

"The bottom line is that in order to compete with other states, we have to offer gaming along with horse racing," he told members of the Senate Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee.

Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission Chairman Judy Horton said the commission unanimously supports all three bills, which could revitalize the industry in the state.

Whitey Kaul of the Wyoming All Breeds Racing Association also spoke in favor of the bills and confirmed for Sen. Bill Barton, R-Upton, that nothing in the bill would compel a rodeo to allow pari-mutuel wagering on its events.

Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, raised some cautionary notes over the proposals. Among other questions, he asked panel members to consider the impact any of the bills could have on the state's lawsuit with the Northern Arapaho tribe. The tribe hopes to offer gambling on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

In that suit, the state has appealed a federal district judge's ruling in favor of the Northern Arapaho. Meanwhile, after following the process laid out in federal law, the tribe is awaiting Interior Secretary Gale Norton's decision on how gambling should be regulated on the reservation.

Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, told Baker that changes to existing state law should have no impact on the state-tribe gambling matter.

Marvin Dash, a professional rodeo clown who also works with the Sort It Out character development group for children, told committee members he traveled to Cheyenne from Emblem to urge them to vote against the bill.

"You all have stood your ground. You've stood your ground on gambling issues, and there's no need to change right now," he said.

Having lived in Las Vegas, "I can attest to what happens to the children of the people that are involved in gambling," Dash said.

He likened gambling to wolves, which he said were initially an endangered species everyone wanted to save but are now reproducing faster than many people in Wyoming want.

"Once you open that door, once you pull that tab, once you place that bet, you can't control it," he said.

Wallis responded that only 1 percent of the population is addicted to gambling, and his company wants to fight that problem.

All three bills cleared the committee on 4-1 votes, with panel Chairman Gerald Geis, R-Worland, voting against HB 92 and HB 93, and Sen. Laness Northrup, R-Powell, opposing HB 94 .