If change doesn’t come soon to the state’s horse racing industry, Pennsylvania legislators claim that the racing commissions “will be destroyed”.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding testified Monday in front of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee regarding Senate Bill 352, which would make major changes to the Race Horse Industry Reform Act.
According to FOX 43, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission and the Harness Racing Commission are both funded through a restricted account – the Racing Fund – which was established in 1981. The account is solely funded by a tax generated from wagering at the state’s racetracks.
The Gaming Act was passed in 2004, which allowed casino gambling in the state. Since that time wagering has fallen, and as a result, funding for the state’s racing commissions has dropped some 71 percent.
“The fund is simply collapsing because folks are putting their bets into slots and their dollars are going in a different direction,” Redding told FOX 43.
However, passage of the bill is not a certainty. Five of the six racetracks in the state oppose the legislation. According to the report, since the Gaming Act was established in 2004, Pennsylvania’s casinos have generated more than $2 billion per year in revenue. According to a Gaming Control Board report in 2014, $242 million of the $2.3 billion generated by slot machines went to horse racing.
In a joint statement to the Pennsylvania legislature, the tracks said –
“The introduction of slots and casino style gaming has been an undisputed success. Because the legislature wisely directed that gaming revenues be utilized to support racing purses, Pennsylvania’s horse breeding industry is thriving and its racing industry has shared in gaming’s success.”
Read more at FOX43.com