2/7/2023
(Olympia, WA) A pair of Bills that would directly assist the Horse Racing industry and recreational Equine opportunities were introduced last month in this year’s state legislative session with identical bills in both the Senate and House. Senate Bill 5598 (SB5988) received it’s first hearing today before the Business, Financial Services, Gaming and Trade committee. Several supporters testified before the committee and the testimony was very positive.
You can watch the testimony on this link. The committee held a public hearing on 3 bills. The testimony other than the reading of the bill to the committee begins at the 17:30 mark: Video link to formal hearing on SB5988
The committee did not take any further action at this time. If they decide to move it out of their committee it will go to the Senate Ways and Means committee for further action. If it gets out of Ways and Means it would then go to the rules committee which is a formality before heading to the Senate floor for a vote.
Meantime, House bill 1529 (HB1529) has a little simpler path to the House floor as it was fast forwarded to the important Appropriations committee where if passed will then go straight to Rules and then the House floor where a similar bill last year was well received and passed easily in the House of Representatives. So far HB1529 does not have a hearing date before the Appropriations committee.
What you can do to help support the passage of these Bills:
Regarding SB5988 the bill in the Senate you can send an e-mail note or make a phone call to the offices of those on the committee that you are in favor of SB5988 and would like them to pass this bill out of committee and send it the Ways and Means committee. For an easy copy and paste message you could send each of them the following message just be sure to include the correct name of the Senator you are sending it too and your name and home town. Here is a sample and of course you could use your own words but remember to keep it short like a single paragraph:
“Dear Honorable (Senator Name),
I am writing to you in support of SB5598, that supports our Equine industries all across the state. The horse industry is a part of Washington State history and has always been a great partner to our citizens. The industry is in need of help and support of this bill will help keep the horse racing industry alive in the state. It also is going to help all equine organizations, groups and schools from 4H to High School Equestrian teams to County Fairs and therapeutic programs and more. Please support SB5598, I urge you to vote yes and send it to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
Sincerely,
(Your Name and city)”
Here is a link to the 9 Senators on the Business, Financial Services, Gaming and Trade committee, click on the link and then click on the name of each senator and their e-mail will pop-up. Reply by copy and pasting the above message or in your own words or call each office and leave a message of your support with the Senator’s aide or on their message. If you leave a message simply say:
“I am calling to urge “Senator name” to support and vote to move SB5988 to assist the horse racing and equine industries in the state of Washington to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Sincerely “your name and town”.
Here is the link to the Senate Business, Financial Services, Gaming and Trade committee members
You can use the virtually the same messages to pass on to the Representatives on the House Appropriations committee regarding HB1529. Here is the copy and paste e-mail message:
“Dear Honorable (Rep Name),
I am writing to you in support of HB1529, that supports our Equine industries all across the state. The horse industry is a part of Washington State history and has always been a great partner to our citizens. The industry is in need of help and support of this bill will help keep the horse racing industry alive in the state. It also is going to help all equine organizations, groups and schools from 4H to High School Equestrian teams to County Fairs and therapeutic programs and more. Please support HB1529, I urge you to vote yes and send the bill to the floor of the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
(Your Name and city)”
or again a phone call to the Reps offices with a message such as:
“I am calling to urge “Representative name” to support and vote to move HB1529 to assist the horse racing and equine industries in the state of Washington to the floor of the House of Representatives. Sincerely “your name and town”.
Link to the House Appropriations 31 Committee members
We will keep you updated with every move of these two bills but in the meantime please share this story with other supporters of our industry and keep up with pushing the messages to the elected officials. This will literally change to trajectory of racing in Washington state from the slow downward slide to an immediate bounce back up. If this bill passes this year you will see an immediate increase in purses plus the benefits that go with this bill like helping return low cost dental to the backstretch along with other much needed services.
This has to be “OUR” time as an industry, make your voice heard today.
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