FILE PHOTO: To Honor and Serve, right, with jockey Jose Lezcano aboard, heads to the finish line during the running of the Pennsylvania Derby horse race at Parx Racing, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, in Bensalem, Pa.
Alex Brandon / AP Photo
Education advocates target Pennsylvania’s subsidized horse racing fund
Also on the program: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative source of continued debate
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Merideth Bucher
Alex Brandon / AP Photo
FILE PHOTO: To Honor and Serve, right, with jockey Jose Lezcano aboard, heads to the finish line during the running of the Pennsylvania Derby horse race at Parx Racing, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011, in Bensalem, Pa.
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Airdate: Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Education advocates are crying foul over the state’s subsidies to the Pennsylvania horse-racing industry.
More than $3 billion were earmarked for the troubled industry since 2010 and education advocates say its time to shift the Race Horse Development Fund to schools and state universities.
Joining Smart Talk Wednesday to lay out their position are Susan Spicka, Executive Director, Education Voters of PA, along with Sharon Ward, senior fellow with Education Voters of PA.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative source of continued debate
The Wolf administration, along with state democrats, support RGGI, a regional cap-and-trade program that will essentially charge power plants for their carbon emissions. The funds generated could then be invested back into communities impacted by plant closures or those with high pollution burdens.
Republican critics of RGGI say the initiative is a “scam” and will devastate communities that rely on coal. They have introduced a bill to keep Pennsylvania out of RGGI.
StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Rachel McDevitt appears on Smart Talk Wednesday to offer a look at the next move from both sides.
