Florida state Rep. Matt Gaetz, chairman of the House Finance and Tax Subcommittee, has put his colleagues on notice that he will not approve any gambling legislation in his committee that does not include decoupling, which would allow kennel clubs to determine if they want to continue to hold dog races. Currently parimutuel facilities that offer poker rooms or other types of gambling are required to offer a minimum number of races.
State Rep. Jared Moskowitz said, “This is about businesses being able to make a decision for themselves. Florida, for all the talk about free enterprise, for all the talk about liberty, for all the talk about not having government in the way of over-regulating, Florida actually mandates that a business runs its business like it’s 1997.” Last year Moskowitz unsuccessfully sponsored legislation that would have reduced the number of races required to allow a parimutuel facility to offer other types of gambling.
Both lawmakers pointed out greyhound racing is an outdated sport that’s not safe for the animals. Reports indicate the state’s 13 greyhound racetracks reported 192 deaths between June 2013 and December 2014. However, Jack Cory, a lobbyist for the Florida Greyhound Association, said kennel club owners are using the animal rights issue as a way to avoid holding voter referendums as required by law. “All of them want to become casinos. They want to do away with parimutuels and they want to become casinos. But that’s not what the people of Florida voted for. It would be the end of greyhound racing and the beginning of the expansion of 13 casinos,” Cory said.
An estimated 3,000 people would lose their jobs and 8,000 greyhounds would be put up for adoption if legislators approve decoupling, Cory said. He added the state regulates dog tracks and most greyhounds don’t run more than twice a week.
So far, no decoupling legislation has been filed.
