Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo pre-filed legislation that, if passed, would ensure that no business could acquire more than one horse-racing license except under special circumstances in Kentucky.
“I want to make sure that we keep the playing field level when it comes to who owns our horse-racing tracks,” said Speaker Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. “We have a system that is second-to-none in the world, and my goal is preserve the integrity of horse racing and make it more competitive. This will guarantee the diversity of ownership of racing licenses.”
Under his pre-filed bill, no entity could apply for a horse-racing license if the applicant already has a racing license issued by the state. At the same time, however, a currently issued license could be transferred to an entity for the purpose of relocating the license as long as the applicant “acquires all assets and liabilities of the other current licensee.”
“Because the number of horse-racing licenses is limited, I wanted to clarify the law in case there was any ambiguity about moving a track from one part of the state to another,” Speaker Stumbo said.
Speaker Stumbo’s bill will be considered during the 2016 Regular Session of the General Assembly, which will begin meeting in early January.
(story provided by Office of the Kentucky House Speaker)
