N.H. to close state greyhound drug testing lab
By PAUL H. HEINTZ, Reformer Staff
Friday, July 27
HINSDALE, N.H. -- A little-noticed provision included in New Hampshire's budget last month re-wrote the rules regarding how greyhound racetracks pay for drug-testing their dogs.
The most immediate effect of the 11th-hour legislation is the closure of the state Pari-mutuel Commission's drug-testing laboratory, which is scheduled for December, according to commissioner Paul Kelley.
But according to representatives of anti-greyhound-racing group Grey2kUSA, the legislation also ended the last state subsidy of racing and could have prompted the Hinsdale Greyhound Park's recent decision to end year-round racing.
"I think it's huge," said Grey2k lobbyist Nancy Johnson. "I don't know the reason it occurred, but the decision was made in the budget process in a committee of conference to stop subsidizing the dog tracks, recognizing that this is a dying industry that we, the state, do not need to be a part of."
The Hinsdale track announced last week that it would end year-round racing in early September and race only during the summer season.
"Do I believe the subsidy ending was the final nail in the coffin for ending year-round racing at Hinsdale?
Absolutely," said Grey2k executive director Carey Theil.
However, David Calef, a spokesman for the Hinsdale track, said Theil "is just trying to claim victory on this whole thing."
In reality, he said, the drug-testing change will not hurt the track, and could even help it.
"If anything, it may turn out to be a positive. And it wouldn't make any difference if we were running year-round or part-time," he said.
Kelley said he also did not think the rule change would drastically harm the race tracks, and he does not think it led to Hinsdale's decision.
"I heard no mention from the racetrack that this was a reason for curtailing live racing," he said.
Since 1995, a complicated formula has dictated how racetracks pay the commission for conducting drug tests. That year, in what Theil called an act of "corporate welfare," the legislature enacted a provision that capped tracks' contribution to the cost of testing at 1 percent of their exotic wagering pool.
According to a 2005 audit prepared by the state's Office of Legislative Budget Assistant, that formula led to a significant "under recovery" of funds from the tracks to pay for testing.
During a nine month period ending March 31, 2005, according to the audit, the commission's lab conducted 9,400 tests for a cost of $277,000. Because of the exotic wagering cap, tracks only had to contribute $123,000 in fees, and taxpayers paid the remaining $154,000 in expenses.
"The under recovery of lab costs resulting from the cap appears to be a trend resulting in larger (shortfalls) as the amount recovered under the cap appears to be generally decreasing due to fewer live races being performed while many of the PMC lab costs remain fixed," the report reads.
The legislation recently passed, however, requires the commission to bid out its drug-testing responsibilities and charge racetracks a per-test rate. While the legislation ends the state subsidy, it also requires that the total cost for testing statewide not exceed $300,000 annually.
According to Calef, the bill may actually be a win-win for everybody.
As the state's other tracks reduced their racing schedules, their contributions to the testing pool decreased, while the testing facilities' expenses remained the same. Closing the commission's facility and contracting the service to the lowest bidder could actually decrease the expenses for Hinsdale.
"The difference is it will go from a huge cost at the state lab to an individual cost that will be conducted with an outside state agency. And that just makes sense for everybody," he said.
Theil, however, believes the legislative change and Hinsdale's scheduling change must be linked.
"The bottom line is for years these tracks have been subsidized. For years, taxpayers have been paying for drug testing for animals to compete in these races," he said. "It would have to be an awful coincidence to see Hinsdale end year-round live racing a week and a half after this law goes into effect."
Johnson, who did not find out about the change until recently, said that regardless of the effect of the bill, it shows that legislators no longer want to subsidize the racing industry.
And at the very least, she said, "We just saved the state half-million dollars easily." |
