Texas tracks allowed to reopen after temporary agreement reached

The Texas Racing Commission authorized the state’s tracks to resume simulcasting and racing operations Wednesday morning after a temporary funding plan for the commission’s administrative costs was announced by the offices of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The extension covers 90 days and was agreed upon by the senate members of the state’s legislative budget board and John Otto, the House appropriations chairman.

The announcement came after a one-day shutdown of racing in the state, and the plan will be approved by Gov. Greg Abbott, a representative from his office said Wednesday morning. Patrick’s announcement was released Tuesday night.

“This authorization immediately allows the commission to operate for the next 90 days,” Patrick said in a statement. “It also allows Gov. Greg Abbott additional time to name members to the three expired terms of the Texas Racing Commission.

“Any disagreement with the commission that resulted in this stalemate was never about ending horse and dog racing in Texas. Instead, it was about making sure the appointed commissioners follow the law as directed by the legislature and a state district judge.”

The shutdown at the close of the commission’s fiscal year Tuesday came on the heels of a key vote concerning historical racing, the electronic parimutuel game. The commission voted 4-3 not to repeal rules for historical racing established a year ago. A judge has ruled the commission did not have jurisdiction to pass the rules, and that decision has been appealed by such groups as Sam Houston Race Park and the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

Tuesday’s budget announcement left some in the industry questioning the source of the administrative funding and what happens after the 90-day period, and Otto provided some insight into those issues in a statement Wednesday.

“I support a full two-year implementation of the racing commission’s budget as approved by the Legislature,” Otto said. “However, being aware of the Senate's legitimate concerns over the racing commission’s recent actions on historic racing, I offered a six-month funding scenario on Sunday to allow for certainty and regulation of the industry while we worked on a path forward. The Senate rejected my offer and countered with a 90-day funding scenario, which also required approval of Gov. Abbott.

“While I question whether 90 days is an adequate amount of time to resolve this issue, my primary concern is for the people at risk of losing their jobs while we work toward resolution. It is short-sighted to risk the state's full authority over this industry and create job uncertainty by withholding certain administrative funds. This extension of time will allow us to work on a long-term solution with minimal impact to the racing industry.”

The return to operations Wednesday did please industry members in Texas.

“We are glad to see our ability to operate our business restored,” Sam Houston president Andrea Young said in a statement. “However, we remain extremely concerned with both the process and the extremely short period of funding. Like any business, we need to be able to plan farther out than three months.

“On behalf of all the hard-working Texans impacted by the recent shutdown, we plan to continue our efforts to strengthen the Texas racing industry. To that end, we look forward to having our day in court on historical racing.”

Jan Haynes, president of the Texas Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said her members were grateful for the return to business in Texas.

“The horsemen along with the tracks haven’t received any details of the funding, but the Texas Racing Commission did issue permission to the tracks to reopen this morning,” she said. “The horsemen are very appreciative of the house representatives on the legislative budget board for helping us. We’ll just have to see what happens.”