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TALLAHASSEE - A new thoroughbred racetrack near Ocala is not in the cards this year.
A bill that would have allowed Magna Entertainment Corp. of Canada to build the track and expand simulcast gambling at other horse and dog tracks appears to be dead as state legislators move into the final two weeks of the session.
"It would take something miraculous to revive it," said Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, the sponsor of the bill (SB 2474).
The bill was scheduled for a hearing Monday before the Senate Regulated Industries Committee but was deferred and is unlikely to be heard because the panel does not plan to meet again this year.
The measure, backed by the owners of Gulfstream Racetrack in South Florida, faced overwhelming opposition from the rest of the parimutuel industry.
Haridopolos said he thinks lawmakers need to revamp the industry because of declining revenues and hopes his effort will start a dialogue between competing interests.
Florida legalized horse and dog track racing in 1931 and collects about $34-million a year in taxes from the parimutuel industry, a figure that has been steadily declining for more than a decade because of competition from the Florida Lottery, cruises to nowhere and American Indian gambling. In 1993, state revenue from the tracks and jai alai frontons totaled $106.5-million.
"A lot of people are clinging to the past," said Gulfstream president Douglass Donn. His track is spending about $100-million on improvements.
Magna Entertainment, owners of Gulfstream, bought land two years ago near Ocala at Interstate 75 and Alternate U.S. 27 for a new racetrack but cannot build it without a change in the law.
Haridopolos said those who oppose changes risk the death of the industry.
The measure surfaced last week in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee when Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, attached it to a penny-ante poker bill without making copies available to the public.
Haridopolos said he decided to float the measure in another committee because he didn't think the Regulated Industries Committee, which traditionally hears racing bills, would give it a fair hearing.
Senate President Jim King referred the measure back to other committees for consideration, saying he didn't want to see any parimutuel bill that was not acceptable to lobbyists for all of the parimutuels.