A Texas horse racing group wants a judge to force the state to fund the racing industry through summer 2017, while continuing a battle over historical racing.
The Texas Horsemen’s Partnership this month sued Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and the state, who are threatening to cut funding to the state’s horse racing tracks if they offer historical betting, in which gamblers wager on races that already have been run.
To wager on historical racing, bettors must use betting terminals that look similar to slot machines and bet on races that already have been run, but whose identifiers have been stripped to make the anonymous.
The Texas Racing Commission okayed historical betting terminals at racetracks in 2014, but state lawmakers oppose it, and a subsequent lawsuit claims the commission had no authority to approve historical betting.
Texas officials gave the Legislative Budget Board the power to withhold funding from the Racing Commission, and the board used its new power to approve only short-term budgets that need constant renewal, while pressuring the commission to reverse its approval of historical gaming.
“The actions of the Legislative Budget Board are unconstitutional, and we believe we have no choice other than legal action to protect the Texas horse racing industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Texans horsemen and other Texas business owners and employees who depend on the continued existence of our industry, ” Texas Horsemen’s Partnership spokesperson Marsha Rountree said.
The racing association wants the court to declare the temporary funding to be an unconstitutional means to suppress free speech, and to fully fund the Racing Commission.
