Herald Review – A law allowing online wagering on races at Illinois horse tracks is set to expire Jan. 31. Without an extension and an agreement to pony up more funds, racing dates would be either eliminated or deeply slashed at tracks.
Illinois lawmakers could take up the issue when they convene for the fall veto session next week, or discussions could be rolled into a debate over a larger gambling expansion package that has languished in the General Assembly for years.
A hearing on a gambling expansion plan, which would add five new casinos and allow slot machines at race tracks, is set for Wednesday.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Steve Brubaker of the Illinois Harness Horseman’s Association.
The situation is reminiscent of last spring when the law allowing Internet-based gambling on horse racing expired, and lawmakers failed to renew the law for several months.
In reaction to the uncertainty, the racing board last month approved four alternative racing schedules for 2014, including one doomsday scenario that would cut the number of racing days to 87, down from this year’s 466 days, if the law is not renewed and no money is made available.
In the most optimistic plan advanced by the racing board, the General Assembly would renew the Internet betting law and give the agency access to $725,000 to cover a shortfall leftover from the temporary expiration of the law last spring.
