Gaming regulators authorize emergency rule to vet racing-license transfers and approve Greyhound license transfer

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on July 22 authorized an emergency regulation (205 CMR 17.0) to create a formal review process for transfers of interest in racing meeting licenses and approved a related Greyhound racing license transfer application. Chair Jordan Maynard said the work is intended to support the horse-racing industry, longtime employees and host communities while preserving public comment and the ability to revise the rule before final promulgation.

Chief Deputy General Counsel Justin Stempic told commissioners the proposed regulation establishes notice requirements, standards for approval, an interim authorization pathway before a full suitability hearing, a role for the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) in vetting qualifiers, and a fee structure to fund investigation and application review. "Broadly speaking the proposed regulation sets forth a notice provision... the standards for approving a transfer of license," Stempic said, explaining why staff sought emergency promulgation to make the framework immediately available while still accepting public comment.

Commissioner Hill moved to approve the small-business impact statement and to authorize staff to file the documentation needed for emergency promulgation; the motion passed unanimously, 5-0. In the same sequence of votes the commission approved staff's application template for the Greyhound racing license transfer. Justin Stempic said the transfer application was pared down from a previously reviewed racing-licensing application and tailored to the unique circumstances of the pending transfer. "We carved that down to only keep the applicable pieces and added in some other components that are relevant to the type of license that is seeking to be transferred," he said.

Next steps: the emergency regulation takes effect immediately under the commission's emergency rule authority while the commission will accept public comments and may modify the regulation before final adoption. The approved application for the Greyhound license transfer will proceed under the process the staff outlined.