Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

HB4914 Seeks Push

May 19, 2008

Illinois horse breeders and racers on Monday renewed their push for legislation to allow slot machines at Fairmount Park in Collinsville and other tracks, saying the state's horse racing industry continues to stumble against casino competition.

It's part of a broader ongoing debate in Springfield over whether to expand gambling across Illinois, and use the resulting state tax revenue to fund a massive new program to repair roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Allowing slot machines at the tracks, proponents say, would help build those roads while helping revive the state's struggling horse racing by bringing in more patrons and funding bigger purses, which would attract bigger names to race in Illinois.

"Horse racing needs help," said Lanny Brooks, director of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. "We think we can help each other."

Brooks was among dozens of participants in a Springfield news conference that brought together various parts of the state's venerable but struggling horse racing industry to lobby for the idea. The lobbying effort included placing two life-sized horse statues in the state Capitol rotunda for the day.

Proponents say slots at the tracks, along with expansion of capacity at existing facilities like the Casino Queen, could bring in $2 billion a year in new state gaming taxes, which in turn could secure $20 billion in bonds to fund the infrastructure program.

One key measure to do that has been stalled in Springfield this year in part because of political hesitance to expand gambling. Anti-gambling activist Anita Bedell argued Monday that the potential societal problems of the measure would offset any benefit for the state's coffers.