Representative Adam Koenig | polite Adam Koenig
By a 33-1 vote, the Kentucky Senate stamped the Kentucky House of Representatives Bill 607’s approval, modernizing taxation on pari-mutuel betting and, in a major victory for those play horseback, which has eliminated coin breaking from the standard for many years in favor of coin breaking. The change in fracture level would put more money in the pockets of riders and be the first such measure adopted in the United States. The only dissenting vote came from Republican Senator Whitney Westerfield.
Patrick Cummings, CEO of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation (TIF), has champion of cause almost four years old.
“In the last three decades alone, about $1 billion has been withheld from winning bets across America. Paragraph of HB 607 will put some of this money back into the pockets and accounts of winning bettors from future bets. ‘
“We thank the leadership of House funders, Representatives Adam Koenig and Al Gentry, and Senators Damon Thayer in guiding the passage of the bill.
Besides the beneficial breaking rules, HB 607 requires a tax on pari-mutuel bets at 1.5%, the same rate assessed on Historical Horseracing (HHR) machines. Tax standardization means that bets made through and ADW by Kentucky residents will be taxed at 1.5%, up from 0.5%.
“Equestrian racing must constantly pursue every method to make its products as competitive as possible,” says Bernick. “Market pressure on racing is stronger than ever with the rapid legalization of sports betting across the country. We hope that operators realize how important it is to retain all customers and drive their participation through competitive racing presentation at competitive prices. ”
HB 607 is sponsored by Representative Adam Koenig. A house committee passed the bill on March 16 before moving it to the Senate for consideration. The bill has now returned to the House of Representatives for assent, but is expected to pass and go to Governor Andy Beshear’s desk for his signature.
The Kentucky Horse Education Project (KEEP) released a statement Tuesday, welcoming the General Assembly’s adoption of HB 607.
“A lot of work has been done in formulating this new tax policy and KEEP is grateful to the legislators who served on the Pari-Mutuel Payroll Tax Task Force for their time and effort. effort to fully understand the economic structure of Kentucky’s equine industry,” the statement read. “We would also like to applaud the Majority Leader in Senate Thayer and Representative Koenig for their leadership roles as co-chairs of the task force. The resulting legislation could strike a delicate balance between increasing revenue for the state, and not raising tax rates arbitrarily in a way that could harm the economic success of the industry.
“The entire equine industry has been involved in this process and KEEP is proud to work closely with legislators to ensure that they have access to the full picture of the economic benefits that the industry will benefit from. industry brings to the Commonwealth.
“KEEP will continue to work on behalf of the entire equine industry and the Kentucky community to advocate for policies that benefit everyone in the industry’s economic ecosystem. Successful growth of more than 60,000 industry jobs and a $6.5 billion economic impact on the state benefits all Kentuckians. “
Once signed by Beshear, the provisions of the bill will go into effect in August.
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This story was posted in Top News and tagged Adam Koenig, fault, Damon Thayer, Governor Andy Beshear, HB 607, Kentucky House, Kentucky Senate, pari-mutuel bet, Patrick Cummings, tax, TIF.
