BILL NUMBER: SB 1486 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Governmental Organization (Senators
Wright (Chair), Calderon, Denham, Florez, Harman, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Price, Wyland, and Yee)
MARCH 8, 2010
An act to amend Sections 19401, 19481.5, and 19501 of the Business
and Professions Code, relating to horse racing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1486, as introduced, Committee on Governmental Organization.
Horse racing law intent: backstretch personnel housing: jockey riding
fees.
(1) Existing law provides that the intent of the Horse Racing Law
is to allow parimutuel wagering on horse races while, among other
things, supporting the network of California fairs.
This bill would delete from that statement of intent supporting
the network of California fairs.
(2) Existing law provides that the California Horse Racing Board
shall adopt emergency regulations to establish standards governing
the employee housing provided to backstretch personnel at licensed
racetracks, as specified. No license shall be issued to a racing
association to conduct a horse race meeting unless the board has
inspected the housing conditions that exist on the racetrack's
backstretch and determined the living conditions to be in compliance
with the standards established by the board.
This bill would delete any reference to the emergency regulations
in these provisions, for which compliance was mandated by January 1,
2004, rendering the language obsolete.
(3) Existing law provides various findings of the Legislature in
regards to professional jockey fees, including that 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.
Existing law provides that minimum jockey riding fees for losing
mounts and minimum amounts awarded to 2nd and 3rd place finishers be
increased by a specified amount as of January 1, 2008, and by
additional amounts on later dates, as specified.
This bill would delete obsolete language from those provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19401 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
19401. The intent of this chapter is to allow parimutuel wagering
on horse races, while:
(a) Assuring protection of the public.
(b) Encouraging agriculture and the breeding of horses in this
state.
(c) Supporting the network of California fairs.
(d)
(c) Providing for maximum expansion of horse racing
opportunities in the public interest.
(e)
(d) Providing uniformity of regulation for each type of
horse racing.
SEC. 2. Section 19481.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
19481.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
license shall be issued to conduct a horse racing meeting upon a
track unless the track has been inspected by the board within 30 days
prior to the date of application for a license and the track has
been approved by the board as conforming to the racetrack safety
standards set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 19481.
(b) The board shall , within 120 days of the effective
date of this subdivision, adopt emergency
regulations in accordance with the Administrative
Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) to
establish standards governing the employee housing provided to
backstretch personnel at licensed racetracks. These regulations shall
be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or
general welfare, shall be commensurate with the housing
standards established in the Employee Housing Act (commencing with
Section 17000 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code), and
shall consider the following:
(1) The health and safety of the human and equine population and
the necessity for humans and horses to live in close proximity.
(2) The housing needs of state or county facilities with live
racing meeting meetings of no more than
43 days in duration that do not operate as year-round training
facilities. The board shall specifically consider the different needs
of these facilities compared to permanent facilities or other state
and county facilities that function on a year-round basis, including
state and county fair facilities that operate as a year-round
training facilities where horses are stabled and workers live.
(3) Compliance of facilities with racing meetings of 19 days or
less, even if they operate as a year-round training facility, with
this subdivision shall be contingent on funding in the 2002-03 Budget
Act.
These emergency regulations shall be submitted to the Office of
Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and
publication in the California Code of Regulations and shall be
replaced by final, permanent regulations within 18 months of their
adoption. Every racing association shall be in compliance with these
housing standards by January 1, 2004.
(c) Commencing January 1, 2004, the board, with assistance from
the California Department of Housing and Community Development or a
local building department or other local entity designated by the
jurisdiction in which the racetrack is located, shall annually
inspect the living conditions of backstretch employee housing to
ensure compliance with the housing standards established by the
board, the findings or results of which shall be submitted to the
board. No license shall be issued to a racing association to conduct
a horse race meeting unless the board has inspected the housing
conditions that exist on the racetrack's backstretch and determined
the living conditions to be in compliance with the standards
established by the board in subdivision (b).
(d) The board may assess a reasonable fee upon racing associations
to defray the costs associated with the inspections provided for in
subdivision (c).
SEC. 3. Section 19501 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended 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
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.