Florida House panel expands decoupling proposal and OKs it

After adding an amendment to include both Thoroughbred tracks in the state, a Florida legislative panel voted 12-4 to approve a controversial bill Wednesday that would allow Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs to decouple their racing and gaming licenses.

Hearing emotional testimony from Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Jena Antonucci and two other horsemen, the House industries and professional-activities subcommittee took barely a half-hour before following party lines to advance the proposal. As originally written, the bill would let Gulfstream Park run its slot machines without having the current 40-day annual racing requirement.

Approval was signaled early when Brad Yeager, part of a united Republican majority, won voice-vote approval of an amendment that also would allow Tampa Bay Downs to decouple its card room from its racing license.

“This is a friendly amendment,” said Yeager, whose Pasco County district is just north of the track in Oldsmar. Later he added, “In my opinion this doesn’t affect the Thoroughbred industry like was said by the bill sponsor (Adam Anderson). They can still have live racing all they want. This does not affect them at all.”

Antonucci fought back tears saying “this is a little overwhelming” as she begged to differ.

“The idea that Gulfstream Park would potentially not be a cornerstone of horse racing is absolutely mind-numbing,” she said. “But past that, more than anything, is what it would mean to our local economies, to the agriculture in this state and the billions of dollars it generates just behind tourism and what that means if (there are) less farm owners and less community and less enrichment. The racing is just a very, very small portion of what happens.”

Anderson, a first-term Republican representative whose district border cuts through the parking lot of Tampa Bay Downs, said his proposal would maintain legislative momentum established four years ago. That was when decoupling allowed casinos to stay open while Pompano Park harness and Hialeah Park quarter-horse racing went on their own and eventually failed. Some frontons hosting jai alai also went out of business even as their adjacent casino games stayed open.

“This burdensome and anti-business policy (of coupling) restricted jai-alai and then other horse-racing permit holders,” Anderson told the subcommittee. “However, the legislation did not appropriately apply the new policy to Thoroughbred permit holders. So this bill brings Thoroughbred permit holders who are currently coupled with slot machines in line with these current statutes that govern all other live events. So very simply put, the bill applies the core principles that we value in the free state of Florida to the Thoroughbred industry.”

Jeff Johnston, a lobbyist working for Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream Park, followed Antonucci to the podium during public comment and doubled down on what Anderson said earlier.

“I don’t know if there’s confusion, but nobody said racing is stopping,” Johnston said. “They’re decoupling the two so they can be independent, and it gives the track flexibility to do things that they need to do at the track. Nowhere in the bill, and you can read the bill, does it say that racing will discontinue.”

Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association CEO Lonny Powell swung the pendulum back the other way when he pointed out the racetracks no longer operating after they were given the OK to separate from their gaming licenses.

“Decoupling just gives the racetrack the option not to run and not to share gaming revenues,” Powell said. “You won’t find a single track that was given the option to run, that was given the opportunity to decouple, such as Pompano. They all decoupled.”

He also painted a scorched-earth picture for breeders in the state.

“How can you even breed a horse in Florida when you don’t even know there’s going to be a racetrack?” Powell said, subsequently adding, “There’s nothing good in decoupling for us. A yes vote on this bill in the final analysis exchanges 34,000 jobs in Florida and a $3.2 billion annual economic impact for billions being sent up to a Toronto company (Stronach), and I just don’t know where that’s right for Florida.”

Jan Meehan, vice president of the Tampa Bay Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, took it one step further.

“It would be pretty much be the end of Florida racing, because they’ve already stated in some of their articles that they can’t guarantee anything after three years,” Meehan said. “They decouple. They can say, ‘OK, we have our casino. We don’t need you anymore.’ That’s what it’s going to end up.”

Democrat Yvonne Hayes Hinson, whose district includes the Thoroughbred breeding hub in Ocala, was the subcommittee’s most vocal opponent of decoupling, pointing out that it threatens 112,000 jobs.

“I’m a little stunned about this bill,” she said. “Florida is home to the horse capital of the world, world-class Thoroughbreds, breeders and trainers, and a $3.24 billion equine industry, much of it in my district Marion County. My question is why on earth would you pull that kind of money out of the Florida industry? And how is that economical?”

Toby Overdorf, a Republican from the Treasure Coast in southeastern Florida, said after decoupling, racing has a chance to prove it can stand on its own.

“You have a unique opportunity with this commitment to prove that Thoroughbred racing is here to stay. I think you have a unique opportunity to do that,” he said to an unidentified opponent of the bill. “And sir, you can shake your head if you want to. That’s fine. That’s not a problem, but you have an opportunity in front of you. When I look at business, there’s ways that I can prove that my industry is absolutely going to be a stellar industry.”

Overdorf also suggested negotiation could lead to a workable plan for both sides.

“I think this is there are opportunities that we have for some potential compromise, for some potential work-throughs in this,” he said. “I’d like to be able to hopefully work with you on that.”

“This bill does nothing to change any funding the industry actually has,” Anderson said. “It is currently subsidized with $25 million of direct subsidies, and nothing changes with those subsidies.”

That sentiment carried the day with the subcommittee. The House commerce committee, which is made up of 19 Republicans and seven Democrats, will be the next step for the bill. An identical version of the proposal that does not yet include Wednesday’s amendment was filed last Wednesday in the Senate, which also has a Republican majority

The regular session of the full House and Senate begins its 60-day run March 4. If the decoupling proposal were to be approved and signed into law by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, it would take effect July 1.

Gulfstream executives promised horsemen last month that racing would continue through at least 2028 if decoupling were to become a reality. If not, they said, they could not make any such guarantee. Horsemen have become united in their opposition, saying they believe Stronach Group is keen to profit from selling the land at Gulfstream Park.

Horse Racing Nation covered the hearing remotely online via The Florida Channel live streaming.