SB 744 Update from ITHA
Congratulations Fellow Horsemen!!!!
The release of the impact fee money provides Illinois Thoroughbred Racing a bridge on which to begin the rebuilding of the Illinois racing model. Effective August 12th the impact fee money was distributed into the Horsemen's purse account effectively raising your purses over 25%.
Illinois Bred maidens are now racing for $35,560 at Arlington and $32,000 at Hawthorne.
The ITHA Board believes whole heartily that this is just the beginning of the good times relative to the success of our horsemen and breeding industry.
Horsemen across Illinois await the Governor’s signature of SB 744 to complete the capital improvement to purses that is paramount to the rebuilding process. Below is a
Summary of SB 744 as it awaits final approval from Governor Pat Quinn.
SB 744 UPDATE -- SEPTEMBER 2011
On May 31, 2011, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB 744 (Link/Lang) to expand gaming in Illinois. The primary components of SB 744 include: (i) slots at Illinois racetracks; (ii) a Chicago casino owned by the City of Chicago; (iii) four additional casino licenses -- Lake County, Rockford, south suburbs and Danville; (iv) slots at Midway/O’Hare airports; and (v) slots at the state fairgrounds.
SB 744 passed the Illinois House with only 65 “yes” votes and the Illinois Senate with “30” yes votes. The Governor has not made a final decision on how he will act on SB 744; however, in public remarks reported in the media, he has indicated that the legislation is “top heavy,” “weakens regulatory oversight,” and “over-saturates the gaming market.” Because of the Governor’s public statements of concerns, Senate President Cullerton filed a “motion to reconsider” to stall the transfer of SB 744 from the legislature to the Governor -- allowing additional time prior to veto session to identify those changes to SB 744 that would satisfy the Governor’s concerns, and to draft those changes as a “trailer bill” for legislative consideration during the veto session. The “motion to reconsider” continues to be in place as of this writing, meaning that the Governor has yet to receive the bill.
During the 2011 summer months, various interested parties have met with Governor Quinn in an effort to make a case for the Governor to sign SB 744 into law. The ITHA organized a meeting between all Illinois horsemen organizations (ITHA, IHHA and IHBPA) and Governor Quinn -- meeting with Governor Quinn for more than two hours on August 5, 2011. Also over the summer, the City of Chicago and the Chicago City Council have urged support for and signature of SB 744. While Governor Quinn continues to express concerns of “too many slots” (focused mainly on video gaming positions) and the “weakening of regulatory oversight,” he has not yet identified specific legislative changes that would address his concerns.
Many legislators believe that all of the concerns with SB 744 can be addressed through a “trailer bill” during the October/November veto session -- scheduled to begin on October 25 -- including any concerns from the Governor’s office. This “trailer bill” mechanism would, if embraced by Governor Quinn, allow for SB 744 to be signed while simultaneously affording a means to address the Governor’s concerns. Advocates of SB 744 believe that the “trailer bill” approach is a viable means of achieving slots at tracks. By contrast, a veto override (or legislative acceptance of an amendatory veto) would be politically difficult to achieve. At this writing, the matter remains both uncertain and fluid.