![](logos/spacer.png"){kind=spacer}
YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!!Your immediate action is needed! Senator Kel Seliger’s SB 1340 relating to the temporary operation of a race track extension location has passed out of the Senate and is now being carried by Representative Tracy King in the House. The bill has been referred to the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee and may be scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday, May 14th. Given the short time period, this bill is likely our only hope to pass beneficial legislation in this session.
This bill extends the time authorized in the Texas Racing Act for a licensed but yet unbuilt racetrack to offer pre-opening simulcasting from 2 years to 6 years, generating several million dollars in incremental purse money and breeders awards each year. SB 1340 is a pro-business, economic development bill that also helps agriculture and the Texas horse industry by allowing us to move toward competitiveness with our neighboring states.
Please contact each member of the Committee as soon as possible, to ask for his/her support of this bill. Be sure to thank the member for his/her time and emphasize that this measure will generate funds vital to the horse racing and breeding industry.
The House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee Comprises:
Chair Phone Fax Wayne Smith (R) 512.463.0733 512.463.1323
Vice Chair: John Kuempel (R) 512.463.0602 512.463.5896 john.kuempel@house.state.tx.us
Charlie Geren (R) 512.463.0610 512.463.8310
Lance Gooden (R) 512.463.0458 512.463.2040
Ryan Guillen (D) 512.463.0416 512.463.1012 ryan.guillen@house.state.tx.us
Roland Gutierrez (D) 512.463.0452 512.463.1447
Borris Miles (D) 512.463.0518 512.463.0941 borris.miles@house.state.tx.us
Walter “Four” Price (R) 512.463.0470 512.463.8003
Senfronia Thompson (D) 512.463.0720 512.463.6306 senfronia.thompson@house.state.tx.us
TALKING POINTS ARE ATTACHED HERE: SB 1340
Thank you!! LISTEN to Dr. Bob Judd and Don Kyser of the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network discuss Texas HORSE and the shrinking $5.2 Billion Dollar Horse Industry!Texas Racing Industry Hopeful that 2013 Legislative Session Unlocks DoorsSureBet Racing – by Martha ClaussenApril 2013 – Every two years the elected officials of Texas convene in Austin to review a myriad of bills and legislative documents. For close to two decades, members of the Texas racing industry have appealed to lawmakers for legislation that would allow video lottery terminals, or VLTs, at racetracks. Legislators have been implored to acknowledge the massive amount of money leaving the state with Texans who support gaming in neighboring states of Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The compelling economic impact studies have pointed out the benefit to the state in revenues for education, agriculture and tourism. In 2011, more than 26 gaming bills were introduced and the Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee passed Constitutional Amendment, HJR 137, to authorize the legislature to legalize and regulate the conduct of one or more types of gaming involving wagering in Texas, contingent on approval by the voters at a statewide referendum. Unfortunately, the deadline passed without the required 100 votes, and therefore, nothing further occurred in that session. READ MORE… |
New Study: Texans Spend $2.96 Billion Annually at Neighboring Gaming FacilitiesBy Let Texans Decide | Published: Tuesday, Apr. 2, 2013 – 9:09 am AUSTIN, Texas, April 2, 2013 — Texans Responsible for 38.6% of Total Gaming Revenue in Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico A new study released by a leading Texas-based economic group, TXP, shows neighboring states are taking Texas to the cleaners through legalized gaming. Texans are responsible for $2.96 billion in annual gaming revenue in those three states – up $590 million since a 2009 study — and in both Oklahoma and Louisiana represent more than forty percent of their customers. Read More… |
|
|
Texas HORSE
Every year, several billion dollars leave our state. The operation of slots at racetracks in neighboring states provides tracks in those states with an insurmountable economic advantage over Texas tracks. The consequence of this economic disparity has been the exodus of horses, breeding farms and other horse professionals to other states, as they follow higher purses, leaving the Texas horse industry at an overwhelming disadvantage which threatens the very existence of a vital horse industry and agricultural enterprises in the state.
Our mission is to support a legislative effort which will provide the Texas horse agri-industry with tools to compete against Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, states where the horse industry has been proactively supported by their state governments.
Texas HORSE supports legislation that will allow the installation of VLTs (video lottery gaming machines – often referred to as slot machines) at licensed Texas racetracks.
Texas HORSE is asking the Texas Legislature to let the people of Texas decide.
Please take a look at the site and learn more about how this legislation would benefit horsemen and what you can do to help.
Texas HORSE is unprecedented in its size and scope. There has never existed such a grouping of diverse, multi-disciplined horse organizations and horsemen to support a single cause.
Watch the video
