BILL NUMBER: AB 649 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 605
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 13, 2007
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 13, 2007
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 5, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 17, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 5, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 27, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ma
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Price)
FEBRUARY 21, 2007
An act to add Sections 19501 and 19619.7 to the Business and
Professions Code, relating to horse racing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 649, Ma. Horse racing: jockeys.
Existing law establishes the California Horse Racing Board, which
generally regulates horse racing in the state, including setting
riding fees for jockeys that apply in the absence of an agreement
regarding riding fees to the contrary.
This bill would require the scale of minimum jockey riding fees
for losing mounts to be increased, effective January 1, 2008, when
the state minimum wage is increased, as specified. The bill would
provide that the new fees are minimum jockey riding fees. The bill
would also require, effective January 1, 2008, the minimum amount
awarded to a jockey who finishes 2nd or 3rd in a thoroughbred horse
race to be increased. The bill would further charge the board, no
later than July 1, 2008, with establishing that a jockey who rides a
horse finishing in 4th place in a thoroughbred horse race receive a
reasonable riding fee, as specified.
The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature
relative to jockey riding fees.
Because this bill would impose requirements, the violation of
which would be a misdemeanor, pursuant to existing provisions of law,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19501 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
19501. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) Professional jockeys are vital to the horse racing industry
and the work they perform is very dangerous.
(2) The minimum wage that jockeys receive in a horse race is
established by the California Horse Racing Board as a minimum jockey
riding fee. Jockeys may earn additional compensation if the horse
they are racing is a winning mount, a second place mount, or a third
place mount.
(3) The minimum jockey riding fee has not kept up with inflation
or the cost of living. Since 1970, the state minimum wage has
increased at more than twice the rate that the average jockey riding
fee increased over the same period.
(4) The riding fee should be increased at least as much on a
percentage basis as the state minimum wage, so that the average
full-time jockey can earn an income sufficient to provide for the
basic necessities of life.
(b) (1) Effective January 1, 2008, the scale of minimum jockey
riding fees for losing mounts established by the board shall be
increased by ten dollars ($10) per mount from the rate in effect on
December 31, 2007, except that this increase shall not be applicable
to the two highest fees on the scale. Effective January 1, 2010, the
scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts established by
the board shall be increased by ten dollars ($10) per mount from the
rate in effect on December 31, 2009. Effective January 1, 2012, the
scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts established by
the board shall be increased by ten dollars ($10) per mount from the
rate in effect on December 31, 2011, except the three lowest fees on
the scale shall be increased by five dollars ($5) per mount.
Thereafter the scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts
shall be increased whenever the state minimum wage is increased by
the percentage of that increase.
(2) Effective January 1, 2008, the minimum amount awarded to the
jockey who finishes second or third in a race shall be increased by
ten dollars ($10) per race over the amount required to be paid on
December 31, 2007. Effective January 1, 2010, the minimum amount
awarded to the jockey who finishes second or third in a race shall be
increased by ten dollars ($10) over the amount required to be paid
on December 31, 2009. Effective January 1, 2012, the minimum amount
awarded to the jockey who finishes second or third in a race shall be
increased by five dollars ($5) over the amount required to be paid
on December 31, 2011. This subdivision shall apply to races in which
the purse is nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine dollars ($9,999)
or less.
(c) No jockey shall be paid less than the minimum jockey riding
fees established pursuant to this section.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits the board from increasing
the minimum jockey riding fee above the minimum level required by
this section.
SEC. 2. Section 19619.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
19619.7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no
later than July 1, 2008, the board shall provide that the jockey who
rides the horse that finishes in fourth place in a thoroughbred horse
race shall be entitled to a reasonable riding fee, not to exceed 2
percent of the owner's share of the purse, provided that the riding
fee is no greater than that earned by the jockeys whose horses finish
second and third in the same race.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.