The Texas Racing Commission did not get needed funds to continue operating past an August. 31 deadline.
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Republican senators threatened to defund the agency in February, saying the commission overstepped its authority by allowing historical racing – gambling on electronic simulations of past races with identifying information removed.
Disagreement arose between the House and the Senate about the length that the TRC’s funding would last, resulting in no resolution and the shutdown of major Texas race tracks, including Sam Houston Race Park.
If funding is not guaranteed by the Legislative Budget Board, then the commission shutters Tuesday, as do the racetracks it oversees.
“After an entire summer with the cloud of a shutdown hanging over the industry’s head, I am bewildered that certain members of the Texas Senate appear to have blocked the release of essential funds to the Texas Racing Commission”, Sam Houston Race Park President Andrea B. Young said in the venue’s post. The legislature did not intend this result, which will now shutter Texas racing facilities, putting thousands of jobs at risk. That funding must be restored so the commission can operate and monitor betting at tracks across the state.
“At this time, the agency must cease all operations, including oversight of both live racing and simulcast wagering”, Smith wrote. While the Senate planned to grant the TRC only three months’ worth of administrative funding by late afternoon Monday, the House was set to give the commission the full $1.5 billion over the next two years it would need to keep running.
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Last week, to the surprise of lawmakers, the racing commission’s board narrowly voted to keep the gambling machines. The case is now on appeal.
