Looks like the Pa Horseman are folding like a cheap camera. And to think they gave cash and votes to Wolf.
Ha ha ha........you only live once.
State lawmakers and Pennsylvania's horseracing industry met again Thursday but failed to reach a deal to keep tracks running statewide, leaving one day before Gov. Wolf said he'll be forced to tracks shut down.
Representatives for both sides will reconvene Friday at noon, said Salvatore M. DeBunda, president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, which represents trainers and owners at Parx Casino in Bensalem.
In an email, DeBunda confirmed there was "no definitive resolution" but declined to elaborate.
Wolf said last week that the state can no longer afford to continuously bail out the increasingly insolvent state racing fund, which pays for licensing, safety measures and drug testing of horses.
For decades, those administrative costs, which total about $20 million, were covered by revenue from horse betting. But as wagers declined, along with horse racing's popularity, the fund fell short, often forcing the state transfer money from somewhere else in the budget. This year the shortfall is about $10 million, officials said.
Harrisburg's ongoing budget stalemate forced the issue into the open last week because the state lacked money to transfer into the deflated racing fund, the administration said.
The governor's spokesman, Jeff Sheridan, said the industry had to face the "hard truths" and pushed for agreement on a measure sponsored by Sen. Elder Vogel (R., Beaver), which would include the industry bearing $9 million in drug testing costs.
