from Dave McCaffrey, IHHA President

With about 30 hours left before a vote by the Illinois House of Representatives on a gambling package that would benefit the horse racing industry, the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association would like to make one final run at some phone calls. The names listed below have many horsemen in their district and still need encouragement.

In addition, one Senator has been added who originally voted no, but publicly stated that he has more horsemen in his district than any other Senator, yet, he still voted against the bill. If/when the bill passes the House, it has to go back to the Senate for another vote. It would be great to get another yes vote in the Senate as we won the last time by only one vote. When making these calls, please be polite, talk about the jobs it will save or create, and mention without this bill horse racing may die in Illinois.

Representative Bill Mitchell from the Decatur area: 217-782-8163,

Representative Betsy Hannig from the Litchfield/Carlinville area: 217-782-8071,

Representative Jason Barickman (taking over for Shane Cultra) from the Champaign area: 217-782-6597,

And on the Senate side – John Jones from the Mount Vernon area: 217-782-0471.