Horse racing bills get hearing in Michigan House
By Elena Dumbaugh
Gongwer News Service
House members were off to the races in committee last Thursday morning (June 26), as they discussed a trio of bills that would amend Michigan's horse racing and gaming laws to provide more money for county fairs.
"Every single fair … they are going to get either $5,000 or $10,000 yearly, and then with an increase based on whatever happens within the budget," said Byron "Chunk" Schunk, a longtime harness racer, told the House Agriculture Committee .
How much money the fair would receive is based on the type of racing they host. HB 4346 would remove the cap for the Agriculture Equine Industry Development Fund, and HB 4347 would modify how much money can be in the fund and how it is distributed. The final bill in the package, HB 4348 , contains a $2 million supplemental appropriation for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for horseracing purses at county fairs and races at licensed pari-mutuel racetracks.
The bills do not allow for gambling of any sort at county fairs.
The bill package would amend the Horse Racing Law to change the provisions for authorized uses of the Agriculture Equine Industry Development Fund. Currently, 5 percent of the proceeds from the graduated tax on the gross revenue of internet gaming licenses is deposited into the fund, and any amount over $3 million is deposited into the Internet Gaming Fund. The bill would change the law to direct the full 5 percent of those proceeds into the Agriculture Equine Industry Development Fund and remove language that currently provides that if the amount allocated into the fund in a fiscal year exceeds $8 million, the excess must be allocated to the pari-mutuel horse racing disbursement account.
"There's no reason the full 5 percent can't be put into this industry to encourage people to continue to do business here, run their horses, buy their hay, buy their feed, buy their equipment," Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) said. "All the way around, I think Michigan wins on this."
The county fair racing is separate from racing at licensed tracks. The only organization that has a license for a track is Northville Downs, but it doesn't currently have a place to race. Brett Boyd, representing the Michigan Harness Horsemen's Association, said that his organization is working with Northville Downs to open a new facility in Hastings.
Brian Nielsen, of the Michigan State University Department of Animal Science and Michigan Horse Racing Advisory Commission , said the bills were important for the horse racing industry and agriculture.
"When I started at Michigan State University in the mid-1990s, horse racing in the state was thriving, supporting over 40,000 jobs," he said. "These jobs included breeders, jockeys, drivers, trainers, grooms, exercise riders, veterinarians, barriers, track employees and those that produce the feed and bedding for the horses… horse racing is agriculture, and agriculture means jobs."
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