PHOENIX (AP) - A proposal that emerged Wednesday in the Legislature would end dog racing in Arizona at the end of 2016 but allow the state’s lone remaining greyhound racing facility in Tucson to collect money from offering televised horse racing for at least two years.
The last-minute proposal contained in a Senate amendment to House Bill 2127 was sponsored by Republican Sen. Steve Yarbrough of Chandler and was adopted by a 5-0 vote of the Senate’s Finance Committee. It now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
The bill is backed by the owners of Tucson Greyhound Park and allows them to continue to collect about $500,000 a year for two years from horse racing operators that operate off-track wagering at the track.
“There is growing pressure in the state and around the country to end live greyhound racing. We understand that, we respect that, we feel that,” track lobbyist Michael Racy told the committee. “Dog racing in Arizona and the country is probably and realistically coming to an end.”
The legislation gives the Tucson park’s owners a “soft landing” and a transition for the oldest continuously running track in the U.S., Racy said. It keeps in place a requirement that required horse racing tracks to pay Tucson Greyhound Park for the right to operate wagering.
That provision is opposed by backers of horse racing, including Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott. He said the requirement was designed to protect dog racing from emerging tribal casinos years ago and is no longer needed.
“We’re paying the money and we would like to have that money put into the breeder’s fund or to the awards fund,” Pierce argued.
But Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said ending dog racing while keeping the horse racing payments for two more years is a reasonable compromise to end dog racing statewide.
“Greyhound racing isn’t a sport - it’s a cruel practice that’s like one step above dog fights,” Farley said.
The horse-wagering requirement and a years-old tax credit that also will end under a separate proposal create a “distortion” that is keeping dog track owners who want to leave a dying business operating, Farley said.
“The track doesn’t want to race,” he said. “They don’t want the law to trap them into a place where they’re doing this thing that they don’t want to do any more,” he said.
The owners of two Phoenix-area tracks that have been closed for more than five years oppose the bill because it would prevent them from re-opening if economic conditions warrant.
“In the future the situation might arise where we might want to reopen the racetracks. This bill does not allow us to do that,” said Edward Braunger, who represents the owners of Phoenix and Apache greyhound parks. “This essentially kills Greyhound racing in the future Arizona.”
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