Illinois Track Subsidy Faces Challenges
As reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal: "A potential $10 million
subsidy for Arlington Park, Churchill Downs Inc.'s Chicago-area racetrack,
faces a challenge from casino operators, who contend that a new Illinois law
is unconstitutional. "Last Friday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the bill,
which calls for a two-year subsidy of horse racing by riverboat casinos.
"Yesterday, casino operators told the Illinois state treasurer that they
will make payments under protest and that they will test the law's
constitutionality, said Mickey Ezzo, a spokesman for the Illinois Racing
Board. ".Under the law, Illinois racetracks will receive the subsidy --
expected to yield $36 million a year -- based on the state's four largest
riverboat casinos' paying 3 percent of adjusted gross receipts to a Horse
Racing Equity Trust Fund. ".Arlington spokesman Thom Serafin said the
casinos had threatened litigation on the issue before yesterday. ".The new
subsidy is intended to help the horse-racing industry counter declines in
business since casinos opened in Illinois."
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