Yesterday in Illinois, the House passed a bill by a vote of 89-24 which would see the 11 members of the Illinois Racing Board ousted. The bill is a result of allegations that
the board overstepped its bounds when it only offered three race dates to Fairmount Park instead of 52.
According to an article by the Chicago Sun-Times, the bill will now move to the Senate. The bill requires Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to either reappoint the board members or find replacements.
The report cites Democratic Representative Jay Hoffman as saying that the move was part of an effort to force an unfair tax increase on the track. "For whatever reason, this year they made the determination that as a condition of this one race track that the state Legislature would have to raise the taxes on the race track or, for all practical purposes, it would be closed," Hoffman was quoted as saying.
Illinois Racing Board Executive Director Marc Laino defended the date allocation in many respects. Among other comments, Laino said: "There are insufficient funds for this industry going forward. The industry no longer supports the cost of its operation. We're limited in our resources."
Fairmount Park is expected to post a net loss of $620,000 to the state in 2010. The raceway is the only Illinois thoroughbred track projected to lose money this year.
(With files from the Chicago Sun-Times)