2002 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
IT MAY BE TOO LATE, BUT.....
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to
mark up H.R. 3215 -- the Combating Illegal Gambling
Reform and Modernization Act, better known
as the Goodlatte bill -- today or tomorrow. If you
haven’t contacted your representatives, as urged
here on April 17 and again yesterday, it might still
be a very good idea, for Congressman Chris Cannon,
Republican of Utah, plans to offer an amendment
that will strip horse racing’s exemption from
the bill. Yesterday’s urgent request contained an
incomplete list of Judiciary Committee members,
and a full list of those from racing states follows.
Ask for opposition to the Cannon amendment of
H.R. 3215, and support for the bill as it stands without
the amendment. Racing state members:
ARIZONA - Jeff Flake
CALIFORNIA - Elton Gallegly, Darrell Issa,
Howard Berman, Zoe Lofgren, Maxine Waters,
Adam Schiff
FLORIDA - Ric Keller, Robert Wexler
ILLINOIS - Henry Hyde, John Hostettler, Mike
Pence
MASSACHUSETTS - Barney Frank, William
Delahunt, Marty Meehan
MICHIGAN - John Conyers Jr.
NEW YORK - Jerrold Nadler, Anthony David
Weiner
OHIO- Steve Chabot
PENNSYLVANIA - George W. Gekas, Melissa
A. Hart
TEXAS - Lamar S. Smith, Sheila Jackson Lee
VIRGINIA -Bob Goodlatte, Rick Boucher, Bobby
Scott
As you can see, 27 of the 37 members of the Judiciary
Committee are from racing states. It is up
to the industry to convince the 27 that the welfare
of a major employer and agricultural industry in
their states is at stake, and that the Cannon
amendment would eliminate legal activities
already in use.
May 8, 2002
AND NOW FOR INSURANCE
In announcing a loss for the first quarter of 2002
operations yesterday, Churchill Downs president
and CEO Tom Meeker included this observation:
“As expected, we are incurring substantial increases
in insurance costs.” So are you and everybody
else, which is why you may want to show
up at the Sonesta Beach in Bermuda when the
board of directors of Wagering Insurance
NorthAmerica, the successor to HTA Insurance
Co., discusses reactivation of its off-shore captive
insurance program. WIN had provided Workers’
Compensation, General Liability (including Participants
Liability) and Automobile Liability coverage
for its member tracks. To reactivate the program
in this extremely difficult market WIN needs to
reach a “critical mass” of premiums, and to do so
it intends to open participation in the insurance
program to all racetracks, regardless of breed. You
are welcome at the meeting, which will be held next
Thursday and Friday, May 16 and 17. If you can’t
make it to Bermuda but are interested in weathering
the insurance storm, give WIN’s legal counsel,
Dan O’Leary, a call at his Chicago office at
Mandell Menkes & Surdyk, 312-251-1000, fax
312-251-1010. Dan will be happy to discuss the
program with you in relation to your individual
track needs, and describe the benefits and opportunities
the program offers
THE VERY BEST WAY
The best way to discover errors is to publish something
and wait for the bouncing ball. Yesterday’s
report on mixed breed racing programs drew a
quick response pointing out that Garden State Park
also held one in the late 1980s. And the article on
the licensing arrangement that TVG extended to
winticket.com, brisnet.com and tsnbet.com, all licensed
by AmericaTab, also applies to Northfield
Park’s Bet Harness.com and
BetRunners.com, AmericaTab’s only harness
licensees.