The Idaho Racing Commission, whose three members are appointed by the Governor, is the regulatory body for Idaho\u2019s horse racing industry. In a meeting of the I.R.C. Board on May 5, it was noted that the Racing Commission will run out of operating funds in October of 2010 if horse racing does not resume at Idaho Downs (formerly Les Bois Park) this year since this location provides the lion\u2019s share of the Commission\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n
The Idaho Racing Commission does not receive any state funding. At the May 5 meeting, there was an acknowledgement that , especially given the current economic climate, it is unlikely the Idaho Legislature would provide any tax dollars for the Commission to stay in business and that without a regulatory body, horse racing in Idaho would most likely cease altogether.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, to date, the Racing Commission seems to be reluctant to step up to facilitate communication between Idaho Downs operator Idaho Entertainment, and the Idaho Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent Protective Association, the one organization empowered by the Racing Commission to negotiate on behalf of the horsemen. When I suggested that the members of the Racing Commission sit down after the meeting with representatives from both sides, my suggestion was summarily dismissed by I.R. C. Chair Mike Bosen saying, \u201cI don\u2019t tell you how to run the county.\u201d <\/p>\n
Commissioner Ted Howell responded to the suggestion of the Racing Commission\u2019s involvement in negotiations by indicating that in Idaho, we don\u2019t like government telling us what to do in our private business. That was an odd statement for a man in his position to be making, given that the Racing Commission\u2019s regulatory role consists of doing just that: making and enforcing rules under which horse racing must be operated. In other words, telling horsemen and operators — and the county that owns the facility — how to conduct business.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Commissioner Howell\u2019s statement is an indication that he would support overturning the Racing Commission\u2019s rule that a contract has to be signed with \u2013 specifically \u2013 the IHBPA before live and then simulcast licenses will be issued. Perhaps it also means he would support removing, or reducing, the legal requirement for a certain minimum number of days of live racing.<\/p>\n
At the very least, I would hope that Commissioner Howell and newly appointed Commissioner Paul J. Schneider will mediate or facilitate the conversation between Idaho Entertainment and the IHBPA so a written agreement can be reached and we can get horse racing back on track, once again, in Ada County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Idaho Racing Commission, whose three members are appointed by the Governor, is the regulatory body for Idaho\u2019s horse racing industry. In a meeting of the I.R.C. Board on May 5, it was noted that the Racing Commission will run out of operating funds in October of 2010 if horse racing does not resume at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","czr-hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharonu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}