Stronach-backed decoupling bill is back in Florida legislature
The Stronach Group’s push to get Gulfstream Park’s racing and slot-machine licenses decoupled took the form of a new bill filed Tuesday morning in the Florida state legislature.
With a title of pari-mutuel wagering, House bill 881 was filed by Republican Adam Anderson. He sponsored a similar bill that was passed this year in the House before it was merged into a wider-reaching gambling bill that died in the Florida Senate in May.
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The new bill “authorizes certain permitholders to choose not to conduct live racing following notice to (the Florida Gaming Control Commission, provides that certain permitholders are not required to pay specified tax, revises provisions related to permitholder relocation, authorizes Thoroughbred racing permits to be transferred upon authorizing of commission, removes requirement for certain referendums, removes requirement that certain permits escheat to state following nonpayment of taxes, revises entity that designates certain members of board of directors of specified not-for-profit corporation (and) revises provisions related to facilities that may be leased.”
If it were to pass, the bill would take effect July 1. The Stronach Group still would have to offer races at Gulfstream Park for another three years before it could pull the plug.
The new bill, which also could lead to the splitting of racing and card-room licenses at Tampa Bay Downs, has not been assigned a committee. Florida’s 2026 legislative session runs from Jan. 13 to March 13, two months earlier than last year.
The impending failure of the 2025 bill was signaled when Republican governor Ron DeSantis said in April that “you can count on me as one that is not going to look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate any of our signature industries.”
Since 2025 was not an election year in Florida, DeSantis still is the governor who is bound by term limits to leave office next year. Even though they often are at odds, his same fellow Republicans still run both houses of the legislature.
Citing a bearish market for the Thoroughbred economy, Stronach said the best way forward for South Florida racing is to decouple and let it run its gaming business separately. Racing supporters say Stronach knew what it was getting into when it agreed two decades ago to have racing as a requirement for running slot machines, which help provide money for Thoroughbred purses.
In August, The Stronach Group filed a lawsuit in the Leon County circuit court, claiming it unfairly has been singled out to continue running pari-mutuel competition to keep its slots while harness, quarter-horse and jai-alai operators have been allowed to decouple. That case has yet to be heard in open court.