Connect with us

Politics

Adam Anderson’s thoroughbred horse racing bill advances despite industry opposition

Published

on


The House Commerce Committee advanced legislation Monday that would align the thoroughbred horse racing industry with all other live gaming in Florida.

Tarpon Springs Republican Adam Anderson introduced the bill (HB 105) and said the legislation was designed to support the horse racing community by decoupling racing from other gambling like slots and cards.

“Members, at the last committee stop for this bill, I presented the bill as a solution to help align the thoroughbred racing industry, with all other live gaming in the state of Florida, and to better support the thoroughbred community by decoupling racing with other games like slots and cards,” Anderson said. “In 2021, this body decoupled all other parimutuels operating in the state from their live events, all others except for thoroughbred racing. Simply put, the bill applies the core principles that we value here in the free state of Florida, to the thoroughbred community.”

Anderson said that the bill’s journey through committee resulted in conversations with people representing many facets of the industry, noting that he had taken everything they said into consideration.

“During that meeting we heard a lot of public testimony, we heard some folks that supported the bill, we also heard from some horse owners and breeders that had some major concerns about the bill,” Anderson said. “So … we met with a number of stakeholders, and we listened to their concerns. So, this … is the product of those conversations.”

Anderson said the bill would provide a guarantee that the horse racing industry in Florida would continue for at least the next five years.

“It decouples both Gulfstream Park and Tampa Downs, allowing racing and gaming to operate independently in the state, but it adds a trifecta of support to the thoroughbred community,” Anderson said. “First, it requires tracks to provide a three-year notice to the thoroughbred industry, if they elect to stop racing, and it also mandates that such notice cannot be given until July 1st of 2027, guaranteeing racing into the future and guaranteeing a minimum of five years of visibility in the thoroughbred industry.”

If passed into law, Anderson claimed permits would be able to be moved between different facilities and would provide new opportunities while maximizing transparency.

“[The bill] creates the ability to move existing thoroughbred permits to different facilities,” Anderson said. “This provides flexibility and creates new possibilities for the thoroughbred racing industry … it maximizes the utilization, effectiveness, and probably most importantly, the transparency of the nearly $14 million that’s allocated to breeders and owners with very prescriptive language on how the Florida Gaming Control Commission must support the industry.”

Anderson noted the birth rate of foals in Florida is significantly lower than other states.

“That tells me that we’re doing something wrong here in the state when it comes to breeding and supporting the industry … In the early 2000’s, Florida-bred foals were around 4,500 foals annually, but last year there was only 975,” Anderson said. “So, it’s a troubling trend and this bill is structured in a way to help support that part of the industry; to help prop it up so it can stand independently from slots and cards and thrive on its own.”

St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner pushed back and said that it appears that there would only be one or two entities that would actually benefit from the bill’s passing.

Anderson refuted this and said it would benefit the whole industry.

“This bill will provide the ability for those owners to be able to transfer their licenses so if they don’t want to stay in the horse business,” Anderson said. “Right now, they have to, and the only option is that they just close up shop. This would provide a pathway for them to transfer that license to someone else who might want to or move their license to another location that makes more economic sense for their business model.”

However, opponents of the bill, which included veterinarians, breeders, and trainers, said that if it becomes law, it would devastate the industry.

Bill Russell, a veterinarian from Peterson Smith Equine Hospital in Ocala, stressed to the committee that there are thousands of people who rely on the industry for their livelihoods.

“It’s likely with the passage of this bill, I would have to lay off 40 to 50% of my workforce as the Florida Thoroughbred Industry contracts,” Russell said.

Teresa Palmer, the owner of a 125-acre breeding and training facility in Morriston, also spoke in opposition, telling the committee it would hurt her business if passed.

“We are a small business, and HB 105 would devastate not only our small business, but the racing industry in Florida,” Palmer said. “Anything that has been decoupled stops existing, and that’s the fact. So, we ask that you please consider not only the economic impact, but the family impact that this bill would have on our beautiful state.”

Saffie Joseph Jr., a prominent trainer at Gulfstream Park, opposed the bill in an op-ed published by Florida Politics on March 4.

“This bill threatens an entire industry that has long been a feather in Florida’s cap, and it undercuts years of hard work by so many of us who have dedicated our lives to these majestic animals,” Joseph said. “It’s going to hurt people like me and my family, for whom the horse is lifestyle, passion, and, finally, a way to make a living … The future of Florida racing is on the line. Let’s stand together to protect it.”

Despite objections, the committee OK’d the bill. It now heads to the House floor.

At the bill’s passing, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners Association CEO Lonny Powell released a statement expressing dismay.

“Today’s vote in the House Commerce Committee was disappointing,” Powell said. “Let me be clear: The latest changes to HB 105 are not a compromise — they are designed to scuttle Florida’s vital Thoroughbred industry. No matter how our opponents try to spin it, this bill decouples live racing from voter-approved gaming requirements. This means fewer races, fewer jobs, and fewer opportunities for the hardworking Floridians devoted to this industry, including the passionate horsemen and women from the farms and barns who testified today.”

Powell claimed the bill would gut the industry and send jobs and opportunities to Canada.

“If this bill passes, it will ripple across the entire state economy, gutting a major industry and sending Florida jobs and horses to other states and our dollars to Toronto,” Powell said. “This industry has helped power Florida’s economy for generations, and we must not allow bad special-interest policy to dismantle it.”


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Gov. DeSantis urges local governments to play ball with Florida DOGE audits

Published

on


Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging counties in Florida to follow Bay County’s lead and “step up and ask” for audits from the state-level DOGE his administration established.

Noting that his administration is “working with the Florida Legislature to get more prescriptive authority to be able to go in and conduct audits of these local governments so that taxpayers get the full picture of what’s going on,” he credits “counties that are willing to step up and ask for these audits” with “really leading by example.”

DeSantis has often said Florida “was DOGE before DOGE was cool.” Yet in the wake of the Elon Musk led Department of Governmental Efficiency taking root, the Governor rolled out a state-level task force via Executive Order 25-44 to “DOGE at the local level,” taking a look at “publicly available” budget records and auditing.

As he has previously, DeSantis painted a picture of local budgets larded by hikes in property taxes.

“We’ve seen property tax assessments go up across Florida at the local level,” he said. “Taxpayers are pinched, they’re paying more than they ever have. Even though we have homestead exemption, it hasn’t been enough to fully protect taxpayers. Shouldn’t you know how this money is being spent, especially in those counties that have seen dramatic increases in their state budgets?”

Higher taxes have “pinched” senior citizens whose home value may have appreciated over the years, he said.

“Now they’re being told it’s worth so much more and they have to pony up more and more money. It’s almost like they have to pay rent to the government just to be able to enjoy their property. and that’s wrong. and we need to do something about it.”

For now, the Governor wants cities and counties to work with his group on a “voluntary” basis.

“We really hope to be able to deliver some serious, serious audits working with the Florida legislature of what’s going on in these local governments. I thank Bay County for what they did and I know there’s going to be other counties that are going to step up to the plate,” DeSantis said.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Obscene heckler doesn’t stop bill targeting ‘academic boycott’ of Israel from advancing in Senate

Published

on


The Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee was the first Senate panel to approve Sen. Tom Leek’s measure (SB 1678) which would defend Israel against its opponents in schools and non-governmental agencies.

That bill suggests anti-Israeli actions undertaken by “an educational institution, a nonprofit organization, an agency, a local governmental entity or unit thereof, or a foreign government” amount to an “academic boycott.”

It urges cessation of state contracts and grants with those entities on the wrong side of the ideological conflict if they don’t change their ways.

These entities would have 90 days to correct their noncompliance and be removed from what would be called the Scrutinized Companies or Other Entities that Boycott Israel List under this proposal. Otherwise, the state would divest itself of contracts with them.

Even before Leek could speak, a member of the crowd called the bill “f****** b*******.” She was immediately excused from the room.

A delete all amendment clarified that public funds, such as the State Board of Administration or State University System, cannot invest in these companies. Additionally, it requires that Arts and Culture grants not go to support antisemitic work.

The bill would also target agreements, like foreign exchange programs, with foreign universities deemed to be supporting antisemitism.

Members of the public complained about the legislation, saying it restricted “academic freedom” and offered support to an Israeli regime they find objectionable.

However, others said the bill was necessary.

Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez noted the Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement was targeting cities like his, and the legislation was a way to counter “hateful campaigns from a noisy minority.”

Chair Randy Fine hailed Leek for carrying the bill, saying he’d worried about leaving Tallahassee and having no one carry this kind of legislation,

Leek’s bill has two more committee references.

Rep. Hillary Cassel’s bill (HB 1519) the companion legislation, also has two stops in the House. But it has yet to have a committee hearing.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Senate bill that could lead to execution of would-be political assassins begins to move

Published

on


The bill was inspired by the violence at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

Those looking to harm Presidents, Governors and other heads of state may pay the ultimate price in Florida — even if they don’t succeed in killing their target.

Sen. Blaise Ingoglia’s measure (SB 776) which cleared the Criminal Justice Committee, contemplates adding to Florida law that the death sentence can be issued when a “capital felony was committed against the head of a state, including, but not limited to, the President or the Vice President of the United States or the Governor of this or another state, or in an attempt to commit such crime a capital felony was committed against another individual.”

Ingoglia noted that “the death penalty is reserved for those convicted of heinous crimes” and that his helps to facilitate that by adding aggravating factors of an assassination of a head of state or the killing of another person in attempting to do so. He described the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the concomitant killing of Corey Comperatore as heinous and worthy of extraordinary sanction in law.

One citizen opposed the bill.

Grace Hannah of Floridians Opposed to the Death Penalty said the bill would fall under federal jurisdiction and that an incident like that contemplated by the bill is “extremely rare.”

The bill is also moving in the House.

Jeff Holcomb’s legislation (HB 653) has one stop to go before the floor.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.