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Horseracing Industry Balks at PA Budget

A horseracing industry group says the governor’s budget gallops away with too much money from a fund that supports it.

The Pennsylvania Equine Coalition is taking issue with Governor Corbett’s proposal to draw $31 million out of the Race Horse Development Fund for agricultural programs and other line items.

Last year, more than $54 million was diverted from the fund, but a spokesman for the industry group says this year’s plan is not an improvement, because revenues to the fund are on the decline.

The money in the fund is generated from slots gaming at casinos with racetracks.

Revenues are down due to competition from racetracks in other states as well as competition from other casinos without horse racing.

The Corbett administration is expecting the fund to collect more than 300 million dollars by the end of the fiscal year in July, but the spokesman for the PA Equine Coalition says it’ll be lucky if the fund has 266 million dollars by then.