Since 2004, a staggering $3.5 billion in slot revenue generated at Pennsylvania casinos has been gifted to the commonwealth’s horse racing industry through the Race Horse Development Trust Fund (RHDTF). The industry continues to receive nearly $200 million annually in subsidies, and is now seeking MORE dollars from gambling revenue in the 2026-2027 state budget.  

The subsidies are used to pad cash prizes and provide health insurance and pensions for wealthy horse owners, breeders, and trainers. They are also used to fund drug testing for horses and advertising costs for racetrack marketing, among other things. The primary beneficiaries of these dollars are a small number of racing enthusiasts and hobbyists who have profited from an enormous public investment while avoiding public scrutiny.

Pennsylvania’s horse racing industry is rife with cruelty, doping, and death. Last year, 66 horses died on PA tracks. The Philadelphia Inquirer documented more than 1400 horse deaths on PA tracks from 2010-2021. And trainers and owners at PA racetracks are routinely caught with illegal loaded syringes, dirty needles, and other contraband.

As gambling options have proliferated and public understanding of the cruelty and death in the industry increases, interest in horse racing in Pennsylvania and nationwide has plummeted. After $3.5 billion in subsidies, it is time for the industry to be self-sustaining and face the issues that other businesses have to contend with — changing consumer demand.  

When more than half of preschoolers who are eligible for publicly funded, high-quality pre-k in Pennsylvania don’t get to attend. K-12 students in the commonwealth attend public schools that are unconstitutionally underfunded by more than $3.8 billion. And Pennsylvania ranks 47th out of 50 states for investment per capita in higher education, the last thing our state government should be expected to support is lavishing additional funding on subsidizing a luxury industry.

Any proposal for additional funding to subsidize the horse racing industry must be met with a firm denial. Further, it is past time for state lawmakers to eliminate the subsidy for horse racing altogether.  

Tell your state lawmakers that instead of subsidizing wealthy race horse owners, Pennsylvania should reallocate these subsidies toward Pennsylvania students.

It’s time to start putting the education of children over the hobbies of billionaires.