Florida House Committee Passes Decoupling Bill

[Wandering Eyes]

After nearly two hours of debate and testimony, Florida's House Commerce Committee on Monday passed bill HB 105, which would eliminate a requirement that Florida's two remaining racetracks hold races in order to offer alternative forms of gambling, such as slot machines, card rooms and casinos. The bill, sponsored by Republican Representative Adam Anderson is now positioned to go to the full house.

A similar bill has been filed in the Senate but has yet to be heard in committees.

“Today's vote in the House Commerce Committee was disappointing,” said Lonny Powell, CEO of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association, in a statement. “Let me be clear: The latest changes to HB 105 are not a compromise–they are designed to scuttle Florida's vital Thoroughbred industry. No matter how our opponents try to spin it, this bill decouples live racing from voter-approved gaming requirements. This means fewer races, fewer jobs, and fewer opportunities for the hardworking Floridians devoted to this industry, including the passionate horsemen and women from the farms and barns who testified today.

“If this bill passes, it will ripple across the entire state economy, gutting a major industry and sending Florida jobs and horses to other states and our dollars to Toronto. This industry has helped power Florida's economy for generations, and we must not allow bad special-interest policy to dismantle it.”

Several changes to the original bill were made, including a provision that the tracks must continue to race until 2030 if decoupling passes. If they intend to close the tracks they must give the state a three-year notice and that notice cannot be submitted until July 1, 2027.

Proponents of the bill tried to argue that passage of HB105 would actually benefit horse racing. Representative Chase Tramont asked Anderson “what problem are we trying to solve with this bill?” Anderson responded: “It actually guarantees racing for the next five years. There hasn't been any track that I have talked to that has said they intend to stop racing. This bill is structured in a way to support (the breeding industry), to help prop it up so it can stand independently from slots and cards and thrive on its own.”

Anderson failed to adequately explain how that was possible.

When questioned by Representative Michele Raynor as to whether the bill would benefit 1/ST Racing and no one else, Anderson again trued to convince his fellow lawmakers that this was a win-win for everyone.

“This supports an industry as a whole,” Anderson said. “Not just one or two entities…We're supporting this industry in a number of areas and insuring that it has multiple options to succeed. We are removing a barrier, where right now the industry is controlled by just two tracks, two entities. This bill will provide the ability for these owners to transfer their licenses. If they don't want to stay in the horse business, right now they have to. The only option they have is to close up shop. This will provide a pathway for them to transfer that license to someone who wants to run a racetrack or move their license to anther location that makes more economic sense for their business model.”

Several industry stakeholders spoke during the public testimony period.  The message from each one was pretty much the same: Why are you trying to kill an important industry that provides thousands of jobs and has a huge economic impact on the state just so that Florida can have one more casino?

“This bill would sacrifice Florida Thoroughbred racing,” said trainer Mark Casse. “Breeding, sales, training, mostly based in the rural heartland of the state to benefit one person. Florida-bred and raised horses are a valued export product across America and even overseas. Decoupling would devastate rural Florida.”

He continued: “1/ST Racing deliberately put all their eggs in one basket and now are prepared to leave Florida racing like post fall Humpty Dumpty. Today over 3,000 Thoroughbreds are stabled in South Florida during the winter and 1,500 year-round. Without Gulfstream, most of these horses and these jobs will leave the state. This passage of the bill will cause 90% of the trainers here with the terrible choice of having to leave their homes or leave the business all together. This issue is much bigger than me. It's about $3.2 billion dollars in economic impact a year. We are not asking for a handout. We are asking Florida to recognize that investing in the Thoroughbred racing industry is no different than investing in other labor intensive industries that contribute billions of dollars throughout the state.

“I leave you with one question: is one more hotel and casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida worth destroying an industry that will affect the lives of tens of thousands of people?”

At times Anderson was defensive and claimed the industry might have fared better if working with him before the bill was crafted.

“We put a call out to the industry and I personally met with several representatives of the industry and I asked them all the same thing-give me a plan, a proposal, tell me what you need changed and how you view the industry from your part?” he said. “We didn't get that. Instead what happened was each of those different associations hired a team of lobbyists simply to fight the bill. I'll ask them why are they spending that money on lobbyist when they should be reinvesting that money into the folks they are supposed to be representing. Folks that are breeding horse, the trainers, the owners, the jockeys. That's one of the root problems we are facing. The way the money is flowing it is not getting into the right hands. This bill addresses that.”

“I also want to say I am a lover of the horse industry. I love the track, I love the animal. I am a horse owner myself. It would be an absolute failure in my opinion if racing ended in the state of Florida. Most of the opponents of this legislation spoke to that, what happens if racing ends? This bill is carefully crafted to do everything in our legislative power to make sure that doesn't happen.”

With the bill likely to pass when coming before the House for a full vote, the battle will head to the Senate. According to a source, the Senate is known to be more pro-racing and breeding than the House is.

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