Member of House GOP leadership is representing ‘gray machines’ company. He says it’s ethical.

A member of House Republican leadership has a client deeply involved in the most expensive and combative legislative fight in Frankfort.

House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, is working as an attorney for Prominent Technologies, one of the so-called ‘gray machine’ companies pushing back against a bill to ban the machines, also known as skill games, from Kentucky. The bill to ban them is House Bill 594, from Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington.

Often referred to as ‘skill games’ by proponents and ‘gray machines’ by opponents, thousands of the machines have flooded convenience stores, gas stations and bars across the state in recent years – the most popular brand being Burning Barrel by the company Pace-O-Matic.

Nemes was among 42 “yes” votes on a rare successful motion to table that bill on Friday, which took place to the chagrin of many others in leadership.

On Wednesday, the House reversed course when it took the bill off the table and gave it overwhelming passage, 64-32. Nemes was in the minority of “no” votes on that legislation.

Nemes says that he voted on the bill and advocated for it in the caucus, but was allowed to do so because he received an ethics opinion from the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission (KLEC), which he asked for, that stated he could do so.

“Prominent Games is a client of mine. I do arbitrations and contract review, leases, that kind of stuff. They’re just a regular client,” Nemes said. “Because they were a client, I got an ethics opinion that made sure what I can do. I’m able to vote on the bill and advocate for the bill in the caucus – just not work with any lobbyists or anything like that, which I didn’t do. So that’s what I did.”

The informal advisory opinion, which Nemes shared with the Herald-Leader, backs his actions up because the legislation affects the ‘gray machine’ industry as a whIole and doesn’t target the specific company he works for.

“As long as any legislation affects a class of ‘gray machine’ companies in a similar way, then you may vote on or otherwise discuss, support, or oppose the legislation. However, if it only applies to your client, then you should abstain and disclose your interest under Section 57 (of the Kentucky Constitution),” the opinion read.

The advisory opinion, from KLEC Executive Director Laura Hendrix, is a product of the Legislative Ethics Commission staff and has not been approved by a majority of the commission members. Hendrix noted in the opinion that Nemes and Prominent Technologies lobbyist Bob Heleringer are involved in a lawsuit against a sheriff’s office over the enforcement of criminal laws against Prominent Technologies. The opinion also stated Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office is bringing an action against Prominent Technologies.

Nemes’ law firm, Commonwealth Counsel Group, has represented Prominent Technologies in a lawsuit it filed against a store owner in Franklin County. His brother, Robert Nemes, is also a member of the law firm and has worked as an attorney for the company.

In his leadership role, Nemes is tasked with taking a “whip count,” or tallying, votes for the support of a bill. The results of that tally are usually used to inform whether or not a bill will receive a vote on the House floor.

Nemes said he stepped aside from doing that on House Bill 594.

“I wasn’t involved in whipping it. Even though I didn’t have a conflict, I didn’t want any perception so I stepped aside. I don’t know what the whip count was,” Nemes said. “... this is a client and there are a number of businesses in Kentucky that do this, so there’s no conflict.”

House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, did not comment on Wednesday about who did the whip count prior to the chaotic House floor drama of last week or what the count was. Leadership often holds that information close to its chest.

Further, leadership generally does not advance a bill unless it’s confident the required votes to pass it are there.

Osborne also did not comment on Nemes’ involvement in the vote or motion to table.

Every other member of House leadership – Osborne; House Speaker Pro Tem David Meade, R-Stanford; House Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah; and Majority Caucus Chair Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro – voted against putting the bill on the table last week in favor of passing the bill on Wednesday.

Osborne said that House Bill 594 was a topic of discussion during a particularly lengthy House GOP caucus meeting held on Tuesday, one day before the vote to take the bill off the table and pass it. That meeting lasted nearly three hours.

The vote to table was a rare example of fracture within the House GOP caucus, which usually operates in lockstep on the House floor.

State law generally prohibits lawmakers from the using their “influence as a member of the General Assembly” in any matter which involves a substantial conflict” between personal interest and the public’s interest. Section 57 of the state constitution also states that a legislator with “a personal or private interest in any measure or bill proposed or pending before the General Assembly,” shall disclose it to the legislative chamber, and “shall not vote thereon upon pain of expulsion.”

While Prominent Technologies has retained the current House GOP whip, the state’s most prominent ‘gray machines’ company Pace-O-Matic has hired former House GOP whip – who left that post after he did not run for re-election in 2022 – Chad McCoy as a legal advisor, according to Pace-O-Matic spokesperson Rachel Albritton.

Albritton said that McCoy has not been involved in the company’s lobbying efforts. State law bars former lawmakers from lobbying for two years after their legislative service.

“He’s not lobbied anybody on the issue. He can’t lobby anybody... I’ve had three calls a week with this client since July and I didn’t even know the man’s name,” Albritton said.

Combined, organizations funded largely by the horse industry and gray machines industry spent well over $300,000 on advertising for and against the bill in just the month of January alone, according to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission.

On the other hand, the influence of the horse industry in Frankfort has always been strong, and many legislators have close ties to it. Osborne operates a thoroughbred racing and breeding farm and is involved in many other equine industry associations. Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, who is a strong proponent of House Bill 594, is a consultant who also has strong ties to the horse industry.

After House Bill 594’s passage in the House, it appears to be moving in the Senate. That chamber gave it its first reading on Thursday.

Thayer has stated previously that he believes the support is there in the Senate for the bill to gain passage.