A budget is really a list of priorities. In our own homes we spend the most money on necessities like housing, food and transportation, and we spend less on the special things that are still important to us, such as pets or vacations.

It’s the same for the state budget: a combination of wants and needs prioritized by the amount we spend on each item.

Horse racing has been a priority in Pennsylvania, with the state providing it millions of dollars since 2004. That was the year the horse-racing business first came to the state and asked for financial help. It asked again for continued help in 2015.

Pennsylvania recognized the importance of the industry’s economic contribution to the state and, year after year, bet on horse racing’s future with generous subsidies.

After investing almost $3 billion in horse racing over 16 years, no one could say Pennsylvania doesn’t care about the sport.

It is reasonable to think the business would have used this investment as yeast to grow a sustainable industry.

Now, there is a crisis need in education. Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed redirecting $200 million annually in slot machine revenue from horse racing and investing it in the Nellie Bly Scholarship fund. This will help approximately 25,000 financially eligible Pennsylvania students enrolled in state system universities afford the education needed to find meaningful work that will make them self-sufficient contributors to Pennsylvania’s economy.

The racing industry says it doesn’t want to be pitted against education because it also supports education.

That’s wise, because the industry’s own marketing program identified college-aged and older patrons, with discretionary income, as the future supporters of Pennsylvania horse racing.

Wolf’s investment in education takes nothing from the $20 million the industry generates on its own.

The proposal redirects a portion of slot machine revenue. This revenue is not produced by horse racing and does not come from taxpayers’ pockets. It belongs to the state and is intended to benefit taxpayers. The private horse-racing business erred by assuming it was theirs in perpetuity.

Pennsylvania horse racing still gets a handsome deal under the proposed plan. It will still receive much more help than many other private industries.

All race-horse medication testing costs, ensuring integrity in the sport, will continue to be paid, provided House Bill 1983, a measure to remove a sunset provision, passes. All health and pension benefits through the state will continue for horsemen and backside track employees. All marketing funds continue.

Horse racing will also continue to enjoy the equine sales tax exemption; Clean and Green preferential tax treatment; investments we make at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine to address a veterinarian shortage; and support for the annual standardbred sale at the Farm Show Complex.

Just as the commonwealth responded to the needs of horse racing, we must respond to the needs of our future workforce.

The horsemen say this will be the end of horse racing, but that is doubtful. The industry survived long before the subsidy began, and it has had 16 years and $3 billion to develop what by now should be a self-sustaining industry.

Today the industry generates $20 million for race purses, and with continued state-funded marketing, could earn more.

The Nellie Bly Scholarship addresses Pennsylvania’s current priority: building a stronger workforce.

Russell Redding is secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the horse racing industry, and is also chairman of the Horse Racing Commission.

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