BILL NUMBER: SB 590 CHAPTERED 10/14/01 CHAPTER 936 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 14, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 14, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 13, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 6, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Senator Perata FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to amend Sections 19596.2 and 19605.61 of, and to add Section 19596.4 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to horse racing, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 590, Perata. Horse racing. (1) Existing law provides that a thoroughbred racing association or fair may distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting a race meeting, provided that the total number of thoroughbred races on which wagers are accepted statewide in any given year does not exceed the total number of thoroughbred races on which wagers were accepted in 1998. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the above provision, and subject to specified conditions, if the total number of thoroughbred and fair racing days allocated by the board in the northern zone in any calendar year commencing with the calendar year 2001 is less than the total number of thoroughbred and fair racing days allocated by the board in calendar year 2000, a thoroughbred racing association or fair in the northern zone may distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races during the calendar period the association or fair is licensed to conduct a live race meeting, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. The bill would provide that the total number of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races upon which wagers may be accepted pursuant to this provision shall be sufficient to the extent reasonably possible to prevent any loss of revenue to the General Fund and the California racing participants, as determined by the executive director of the board and subject to specified limitations. (2) Existing law provides for the operation of live horse racing by associations and fairs, and for wagering thereon, and for the operation of satellite wagering facilities, subject to regulation and oversight by the California Horse Racing Board, as specified. Existing law permits the chairperson of the board to temporarily authorize the conduct of satellite wagering from any zone in the state or from any location outside this state if the live racing or audiovisual signals are disrupted or interrupted so as to cause the cessation of the live racing or audiovisual signals as long as the cause is a natural disaster outside the control of the association or fair conducting the racing or satellite wagering. This bill would permit the executive director of the board, with the consent of specified entities, to authorize satellite wagering from any location outside of this state if the live racing or audiovisual signals of the association or fair are interrupted due to the actuality or possibility of power outages. (3) Under existing law, all revenues distributed to the state as license fees from horse racing are required to be deposited in the Fair and Exposition Fund and are continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for various regulatory and general governmental purposes. This bill would authorize additional wagering, and would increase the amount of continuously appropriated license fees, thereby making an appropriation. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 19596.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 19596.2. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in Section 19596.4, a thoroughbred racing association or fair may distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting a race meeting, including days on which there is no live racing being conducted by the association or fair, without the consent of the organization that represents horsemen participating in the race meeting and without regard to the amount of purses, provided that the total number of thoroughbred races on which wagers are accepted statewide in any given year does not exceed the total number of thoroughbred races on which wagers were accepted in 1998. Further, the total number of thoroughbred races imported by associations or fairs on a statewide basis under this section shall not exceed 23 per day on days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being conducted in the state. The limitation of 23 imported races per day does not apply to any of the following: (1) Races imported for wagering purposes pursuant to subdivision (d). (2) Races imported that are part of the race card of the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Breeders' Cup, or the Haskell Invitational. (3) Races imported into the northern zone when there is no live thoroughbred or fair racing being conducted in the northern zone. (4) Races imported into the combined central and southern zones when there is no live thoroughbred or fair racing being conducted in the combined central and southern zones. (b) Any thoroughbred racing association described in subdivision (a) may execute an agreement with any other association that conducts thoroughbred races in the southern zone to allow the other association to distribute the signal and accept wagers on out-of-country thoroughbred races. (c) Any thoroughbred association or fair accepting wagers pursuant to subdivision (a) shall conduct the wagering in accordance with the applicable provisions of Sections 19601, 19616, 19616.1, and 19616.2. (d) No thoroughbred association or fair shall accept wagers pursuant to this section on out-of-state or out-of-country races commencing after 7:00 p.m., Pacific standard time, without the consent of the harness or quarter horse racing association that is then conducting a live racing meeting in Orange or Sacramento Counties, and no quarter horse or harness racing association shall accept wagers on out-of-state or out-of-country quarter horse or harness races commencing before 5:30 p.m., Pacific standard time, without the consent of any thoroughbred association or fair that is then conducting a live racing meeting in this state. SEC. 2. Section 19596.4 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 19596.4. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of, and subject to the conditions specified in subdivisions (c) and (d) of, Section 19596.2, if the total number of thoroughbred and fair racing days allocated by the board in the northern zone in any calendar year commencing with the calendar year 2001 is less than the total number of thoroughbred and fair racing days allocated by the board in calendar year 2000, a thoroughbred racing association or fair that has been allocated fewer racing days in the northern zone may distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races during the calendar period the association or fair is licensed to conduct a live race meeting, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. (b) The total number of out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races upon which wagers may be accepted pursuant to this section shall be sufficient to the extent reasonably possible to prevent any loss of revenue to the General Fund and the California racing participants, as determined by the executive director of the board but shall not exceed a maximum of three out-of-state or out-of-country thoroughbred races for every live race that has been eliminated by the board. A thoroughbred racing association in the northern zone shall not import these races on a day when a fair is conducting live racing in the northern zone. SEC. 3. Section 19605.61 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 19605.61. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the live racing or the audiovisual signals of any licensed association or fair in this state are disrupted or interrupted so as to cause the cessation of the live racing or audiovisual signals and the cause is a natural disaster outside the control of the association or fair conducting the racing or satellite wagering, as determined by the executive director of the board, the executive director may, at the request of the licensed association or fair and the organization representing horsemen at the race meeting, temporarily authorize the conduct of satellite wagering, including the transmission and reception of audiovisual signals, from any zone in the state or from any location outside this state. However, audiovisual signals emanating from within the state shall have preference over audiovisual signals from locations outside this state, and any transmission shall be subject to the conditions specified in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 19605.3. (b) As used in this section, "natural disaster" means fire, flood, storm, epidemic, riot, or earthquake.