Proposed budget cuts upset harness community

The harness racing community received quite a surprise recently when Gov. John Baldacci released his new budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

The proposed budget for the Department of Agriculture cuts $308,000 that is normally allotted to the Competitive Track Stipend Fund, according to Bill Hathaway, the executive secretary of the Maine Harness Horsemen’s Association.

The stipend fund is paid out to each track in Maine based upon the amount of days raced during the year. The tracks that have the most race days get the most money, Hathaway said.

Each track uses half of the money it receives to make capital improvements and the other half is paid in purses. This translates to a cut of $154,000 normally paid to horsemen in purses, according to Hathaway.

“[The budget cut] may not seem a like a lot in the grand scheme of things,” Hathaway says, “but that would be the equivalent of losing 10 racing days. That’s 10 days out of the year when we have to tell the horsemen that they can’t make money.”

Maine currently has 152 racing days, with an average of $15,000 paid out in purses on each day of racing.

According to Hathaway, the General Fund for harness racing in Maine has a base of $35 million per year, which is based on income from wagering on racing in the state, both at tracks and off-track betting sites. Anything more than that is split into adjoining funds, including the Competitive Track Stipend Fund.

The harness racing industry falls under the control of the Department of Agriculture. Deputy Commissioner Ned Porter said that the proposed cut, at this point, is just that.

“The department has to cut $900,000 from our budget,” Porter said. “This is just one of the ideas that was floated.”

Hathaway said that members of the harness racing industry are upset by the idea, even if it doesn’t end up in the final budget.

“We’re scraping to get by,” he says. “It’s not going to be easy to have to tell nearly 2,500 people that they may lose money. There is a possibility that, as an industry, we’ll be worse off this year than we were last year.”

That frustration is on top of the slow progress on opening the proposed racino at Bangor Raceway, which has been licensed to Penn National Gaming. The harness racing community has been working since 2002 to make it become a reality. Both a city and statewide referendum passed in November 2003 to allow for operation of the racino.

According to Hathaway, the harness racing industry may not be able to see any income from the proposed racino until 2007 if it begins operation next year.

The harness racing industry and the governor’s office have clashed over the racino issue several times in the last few years. Baldacci voiced his opposition to a racino before the referendum and has set up the State Gaming Commission to regulate the racino, which has created further delays in its startup.

“Some [in the racing industry] wonder whether we are being targeted. Some believe our enthusiasm for the racino may have backfired on us and that we’ve made some enemies,” Hathaway said.

“Our desire is that the cut not be made,” Porter said. “We want the horseman to have that money. We would like to find an alternative and are closely working with the Agriculture Committee to make sure that happens.”

The Senate Chair of the Agriculture Committee, John Nutting, believes that there is a good chance the cut will not go through.

“Horsemen have been in contact with me on a daily basis,” Nutting said. “We are looking at a number of options to try and zero out this cut.”

Nutting said that his committee is looking at a number of options, including making cuts from the Harness Racing Promotions budget and making cuts to administration in the Department of Agriculture.

“I’m fairly optimistic that we can restore all of the money from this proposed budget cut,” Nutting said.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has budget meetings scheduled for this afternoon in Augusta, where further amendments will be discussed.