The Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey has issued a statement to their membership with respect to the possibility of a $20 million cut to purse accounts at racetracks across the Garden State as part of a proposed state budget for the 2021 fiscal year.
On Wednesday (Aug. 26), AJ Sabath, president and CEO of Advocacy & Management Group and government affairs advisor to the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, provided the following statement to association membership regarding governor Phil Murphy’s revised budget for the 2021 fiscal year:
Yesterday, the Governor proposed what he wanted the budget to look like from his vantage point. I want to reassure you that this is only the beginning of the budget process. The budget is now in the hands of the Legislature. Between now and the Sept. 30 budget deadline, the Legislature will be negotiating their own budget with the Governor. Legislative leaders have their own budget priorities with the power to add and remove what is in the final budget.
This is not the time to be discouraged that the $20 million for purse appropriation was not in the proposed budget. We need to keep advocating for our industry. The foundation of our years of advocacy has made it clear to policy makers that our industry is part of the fabric of what makes New Jersey the state it is in the Union.
(SBOANJ)