Horse racing in Texas could end for the second time this year, on November 30, if the Texas Racing Commission once again runs out of money. At the center of the storm are historical racing machines, which proponents said racetracks need to compete with other states’ racino operations. Opponents stated the games could bring illegal casino-style gambling to Texas racetracks.
Last year after approving guidelines for historical racing, the racing commission was sued by lawmakers, who withheld its $1.5 million budget. A state judge ruled the legislature, not the commission, should have the authority to allow the games. A coalition of racetracks is appealing that ruling.
Lawmakers later agreed to finance the racing commission for the next two years, but that required the approval of the Legislative Budget Board. The agency did not agree to release the funds before August 31, leading to a one-day shutdown of the state’s racetracks. John Jamison, director of facilities and track superintendent at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, said, “When the tracks shut down, it opened up everybody’s eyes throughout the state. It put fear in everybody. We lost hundreds of thousands of dollars that day at the tracks.” State figures show the racing industry employs 36,000 people and contributes $5.5 billion to the state economy.
Racing commission spokesman Robert Elrod called a second shutdown the “worst-case scenario.” He said officials are aware of the coming deadline and are working behind the scenes on a solution.
Jamison observed, “It’s just a waiting game right now. Everybody is holding their breath, collectively praying for the result that the commission will be funded so they can go ahead and plan their lives. People are scared. They don’t want to move their families, but they have very little to do with the outcome. Their lives are in the hands of someone else. That’s hard to deal with as well.”
