Texas Racing Commission transfers funds to continue operations

The details of a temporary Texas Racing Commission funding plan that enabled the state’s tracks to resume operations after a one-day shutdown Tuesday are beginning to emerge. The commission has been granted authority to transfer $186,000 from already-appropriated funds to administrative cost accounts in order to operate for the next 90 days, according Dave Nelson, the chief of staff for Texas Sen. Jane Nelson. The temporary funding plan extends through Nov. 30.

The state’s legislative budget board had previously appropriated a $15.4 million budget for the commission but voted this year to make its two-year administrative fund of $1.5 million subject to board approval. The administrative portion of the budget was not approved by midnight Monday, the end of the commission’s fiscal year, and with no regulating body in place, racing was shutdown.

As part of the temporary plan, the commission can submit a new request for the release of its administrative funding to the legislative budget board for consideration, Dave Nelson said in an email. The legislative budget board, he said, would have to act by the end of the 90 days.

The funding issue is tied to rules for historical racing, an electronic parimutuel game, the commission passed last year and did not repeal in a vote just days before the end of the fiscal year. Jane Nelson, chair of the Senate finance committee, expressed her concerns in an Aug. 31 letter John Otto, chairman of the House appropriations committee. Dave Nelson provided the letter to Daily Racing Form.

“Serious doubts have been raised about the leadership of this agency, which exceeded its authority and violated the Texas Constitution by approving Las Vegas-style slot machines known as historical racing last year,” Jane Nelson wrote. “The vote was taken by the commission’s board members, who are not elected, but appointed by the governor, in spite of a letter of opposition from the majority of the Texas Senate.

“Some in the racing industry have incorrectly stated that members of the Legislature want to end racing in Texas. That is not the issue at hand. This disagreement is over whether a state agency should be allowed to circumvent the Legislature to approve an expansion of gambling – a clear violation of the Texas Constitution.”

The temporary funding plan also allows Gov. Greg Abbott additional time to name members to the three expired terms of the commission, it was announced Tuesday.