1. Saturday’s Powerball jackpot largest in U.S. history at estimated $675M

Today, the Texas Racing Commission will vote on a new form of gambling at racetracks – “historical racing,” via film of old horse races with the details like the dates, horses’ names and jockeys stripped out.

The TRC approved these games of chance – for they are nothing more than that – at the request of racetracks, who say they need the revenue. Lawmakers correctly called the TRC a “rogue agency” for defying the Texas Constitution and the will of the Legislature.

The TRC should right this wrong today and ban historical racing.

“A state district judge ruled more than a year ago that the commission had overstepped its authority,” the Texas Tribune reports. “The Texas Horsemen’s Partnership, Texas Thoroughbred Association, the Texas Quarter Horse Association and Sam Houston Race Track have appealed the ruling. And in August, the commission – defying pressure from state lawmakers – voted not to repeal historical racing. … On Tuesday, the nine-member commission – which has two new members and a new chairman – could either repeal historical racing, reconsider its rules for historical racing or do nothing, letting its previous approval stand.”

Let’s look at what the law says. Gambling in Texas is illegal, with some very narrow exceptions – the state-run lottery, some greyhound racing and some horse racing.

In 2014, a group of Republican senators sent a letter to the TRC requesting that the agency not approve historical racing, because it doesn’t fall into any of those categories.

“And the rules are pretty clear that for a gambling activity to qualify, the full amount waged by all parties on any single race (is) split among the race contestants, the racetrack and the winning bettors,” the senators note. “Obviously, historical races don’t meet those conditions and any gambling in Texas on horse or greyhound races that does not comply with those regulations is a crime.”

Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee in February, former TRC Chairman Robert Schmidt claimed historical racing isn’t an expansion of what racetracks are already doing – it’s just a technological upgrade.

That’s ridiculous. Of course it’s an expansion of gambling in Texas.

If it’s time to have the gambling conversation again, then let’s do that. But let’s not pretend that a machine (often designed to look like a slot machine) that shows unidentified horses and jockeys racing is anything but a game of chance.

As for the racing industry’s claim that it needs the cash, that’s a terrible argument for the TRC to unilaterally change the law. If the tracks are having a tough time competing with out-of-state casinos, they need to re-examine their business models – not demand that the TRC take Obama-like executive action.

As Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick points out in a recent letter to the TRC, “I believe the decision to publish rules for the implementation of historical racing was not an appropriate action for the Commission. The move runs afoul of the Texas Constitution and the express desire of many members of the Texas Legislature, including me.”

The TRC has the opportunity to fix this today. Its members should do so.