Legislation seeking to decouple Thoroughbred racing as a requirement of gaming licensure in Florida progressed with amendments from a Senate committee on Tuesday, April 1.
Florida Senate Bill 408, the companion legislation to House Bill 105 sponsored by Republican Senator Danny Burgess, advanced from the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries in a 5-2 vote in favour of the bill with amendments increasing the amount of notice required should a Thoroughbred permitholder decide to end live racing. The amendment requires notice be provided to the commission no sooner than July 1, 2028 with racing to continue at least four years after the date of notice.
Thoroughbred racing media has reported that the committee heard more than two hours of testimony from mostly racing and related industry participants in opposition of the legislation, with 30 people speaking against the bill and 40 others opposing the bill but waiving their right to speak. Only one person reportedly spoke in support of the bill, a lobbyist for Gulfstream Park, which is operated by The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing.
“Two years ago everyone else [in Florida in the gaming sector] was decoupled,” Republican Senator Jennifer Bradley, who chairs the committee, was quoted as saying by Thoroughbred Daily News. “But not [Thoroughbred racing]. And there is an unfairness in that. There is a sense that the future does not look like the way it is as we sit here today. Things are changing. They're going to change. Let's find a better future with a better balance that is going to let the horse industry thrive. There is no one here that is just wanting to throw it to the side and say, 'If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.' I promise you, this Legislature and the Senate recognizes the value [of] this industry.”
The bill will move on to the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government and then to the Rules Committee before going to the full Senate.
When asked if he supports the decoupling bill by reporters in an Ocala press conference on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said "I have not endorsed that bill. I know there's different bills floating around. My practice is typically, let's let this thing work through and then if it lands on my desk, then I'll come out with a decision one way or another on it.
“I will say, if you put Florida first, then you are looking to make sure that Floridians can be successful, and the horse breeding is a part of our state’s culture, it’s part of the culture here. I'm concerned with some of things I hear about these proposals, about what that would mean for the viability of that going forward. But we’ll let the process work out and we’ll see how it ends up.”
(With files from Thoroughbred Daily News, BloodHorse & WKMG News 6)