Minutes
Ohio HBPA Board Meeting
11:00 am, Thursday, January 28, 2021
Ohio HBPA Main Office, Grove City, OH
Members Present:
President Joe Poole Directors: Susan Anderson, Bobby Cline, Mark Doering, Jeff Jarvis, Dick McCall, Bruce Miller, Mike Rone, John Royer, Robin Schuster, Kristi Tumblin and Kim Williams
Others Present:
Executive Director Dave Basler, Lobbyist Tom Pappas
Call to Order/ Approval of Minutes:
President Poole called the meeting to order. After discussion President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the December 10th, 2020 Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting. Motion passed.
Special Order of Business
Ohio HBPA lobbyist Tom Pappas discussed handouts provided to the board detailing the members appointed by Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman to serve on the Select Committee on Gaming which Included Chair Kirk Schering, Vice Chair Nathan Manning, Niraj Antani, Louis Blessing III, George Lang and Cecil Thomas. Discussion was held regarding strategy on advocating the OHBPA’s position on sports wagering to the members of the select committee.
Discussion was also held regarding handouts provided to the board detailing the makeup of the 134th General Assembly in the state of Ohio including leadership in both the House and the Senate.
Executive Director’s Report:
The executive director updated the board on the latest information regarding the OHBPA’s litigation of the Federal Court case involving retroactive VLT monies owed the horsemen at Belterra Park. Due to the sensitive and ongoing nature of this litigation no further details will be provided in these minutes.
Discussion was held regarding the recently passed federal bill intitled the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act with the executive director detailing that the National HBPA and several affiliates along with potentially other industry groups were likely to challenge the constitutionality of several of the bills elements in Federal Court. Due to the sensitive and ongoing nature of this issue no further details will be provided in these minutes.
New Business:
Purses and Wagering
Basler updated the board on the status of the purse accounts at both Mahoning Valley and Thistledown through the end of 2020 detailing that the Mahoning Valley purse account balances for all accounts combined was just over $1.631 million dollars down approximately $600,000 from the ending balances in 2019 and that Thistledown purse account balances for all accounts was over $2.678 million dollars over $600,000 ahead of the closing balances for 2019. Basler informed the board that he was still waiting for purse reports from Belterra Park for the final six months of 2020.
Discussion was held regarding VLT results at the three thoroughbred tracks for December which showed Thistledown net VLT win was down over 13% from the previous December coming in at $10,572,414. Mahoning Valley’s net win for December 2020 came in at $8,304,994 down 23% from the previous December while Belterra Park’s net VLT win for December was $5,667,086 down 26% from the prior December’s figure. Basler detailed that all seven racinos December 2020 net wins were down from their previous year figures and that representatives from management at Ohio’s three thoroughbred tracks have told him that the Governor’s curfew from 10pm to 5am each day was largely responsible for the declines.
Budget and Finance
Discussion was held regarding contributions to be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to various industry organizations.
President Poole moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $30,000 be made from the Industry Initiative fund to the National HBPA. Motion passed.
Director Doering moved and President Poole seconded a motion that a contribution of $55,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Ohio HBPA Scholarship program to support Ohio HBPA 4-H and FFA scholarships as well as on-track scholarships at all three thoroughbred tracks in 2021. Motion passed.
Director Doering moved and Director Anderson seconded a motion that a contribution of $25,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Motion passed.
Following extensive discussion Director McCall moved and Director Tumblin seconded a motion that a contribution of $50,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to New Vocations to support retraining and replacement of thoroughbreds which had raced at Ohio thoroughbred tracks into second careers. Motion passed.
Director McCall moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $25,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to CANTER Michigan, a TAA accredited aftercare organization, to support their efforts to rehome retired thoroughbreds from Ohio racetracks and farms. Motion passed.
President Poole moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $24,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to Racetrack Chaplaincy of America to support the chaplains salaries at both Belterra Park and Thistledown for the 2021 racing seasons at those tracks. Motion passed.
President Poole moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $10,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky to support the research of National HBPA medication advisor Dr. Tom Tobin. Motion passed.
Director Miller moved and Director Doering seconded a motion that a contribution of $10,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Equine Health and Welfare Alliance, Inc. to support the groups equine medication research projects. Motion passed,
Following discussion of a handout provided by the executive director, Director Doering moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $45,048 total be made from the Industry Initiative Fund divided $20,000 to the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation for the OHBPA Farm Bureau Scholarship program and OHBPA sponsorship of the Explore Ag program and $25,048 to the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation for the various sponsorship and advertising opportunities described in the handout. Motion passed.
Director Doering moved and Director Miller seconded a motion that a contribution of $35,000 be made from the Industry Initiative Fund be made to the Belterra Park Purse account for the payment of Quarter Horse racing purses at the track in 2021. Motion passed.
Discussion was held regarding the date of the next Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting with the board determining Thursday, March 11th beginning at 11am at the Ohio HBPA main office as the date and time for the next meeting.
Adjournment:
President Poole moved and Director McCall seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion passed.