The Colorado House Agriculture, Livestock & Natural Resources Committee passed by an eight to three vote HB 1152. The bill will help revive the Colorado racing industry and jump start economic development for the overall Colorado horse industry. Besides helping horse racing by modernizing pari-mutuel simulcasting, the bill contains provisions for a Colorado Horse Breeders Incentive that is estimated to exceed $1,000,000 when fully developed.
The bill will now go to the House Finance Committee and then hopefully on to the full House. The committee hearing didn’t start until 6:30 pm because another bill’s hearing ran from 1:30 pm until 6:30 pm. Fortunately, the Committee was aware of the importance of this bill and took testimony and listened intensely to the testimony with an open mind.
Passage of the bill can be attributed to the many horsemen and women that stayed over nine hours to show support and those that testified. The following horsemen gave testimony:
Dr Jim Heird, CSU
Louis Cella, Oaklawn Park
Vaughn Cook, Royal Vista
Tony Gasich, RMQHA
Dan Issel, CTBA
John Corbin, APHA
Chris Whitney, Horseman
Dr Marv Beeman, Littleton Equine Medical Center
Mark McGregor, CHA
The opponents of the bill are not giving up, but we showed what a true grassroots effort by the horsemen of Colorado can do. We need to prepare for many more opportunities to explain and sell the horse industry economic development that is contained in HB 1152.
Thank you to all who contributed to the success with the Ag Committee and please continue your efforts as we move forward in the legislative process. We will keep everyone informed as we learn more about the next steps.
More information? Write: coloradohorse@yahoo.com
