BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 897|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 897
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMM. : 13-0, 06/28/11
AYES: Wright, Anderson, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella,
Corbett, De León, Evans, Hernandez, Padilla, Strickland,
Wyland, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 05/12/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Horse racing: quarter horse racing
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the California Horse Racing
Board to permit a licensed California quarter horse racing
association that is conducting a live racing meeting to
accept wagers on the full card of races conducted by
another racing association on the date that other
association conducts the Texas Classic Futurity and
Remington Park Futurity.
ANALYSIS : Existing law grants the California Horse
Racing Board the authority to regulate the various forms of
horse racing authorized in this state.
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Existing law authorizes a licensed quarter horse racing
association that is conducting a live racing meeting in
this state to accept wagers on races conducted by the
racing association that conducts the American Quarter Horse
Racing Challenge, if the races are conducted on the same
day as the American Quarter Horse Racing Challenge.
Existing law permits a harness or Quarter Horse association
conducting a race meeting to accept wagers on the results
of out-of-state, out-of-country, and sometimes other
harness or Quarter Horse races, if specified conditions are
met, including that the association conducts at least seven
live races and imports not more than eight races on live
racing days, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the inclusion of wagers in the
pari-mutuel pools of the out-of-state association that
conducts the races on which the wagers are placed.
This bill authorizes the California Horse Racing Board to
permit a licensed California quarter horse racing
association that is conducting a live racing meeting to
accept wagers on the full card of races conducted by
another racing association on the date that other
association conducts the Texas Classic Futurity and
Remington Park Futurity.
Prior Legislation
AB 2201 (Coto), Chapter 253, Statutes of 2010, authorized
the California Horse Racing Board to permit a California
harness racing association to accept wagers on the full
card of races conducted by another racing association on
the date of the "Cane Pace."
AB 2790 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 141,
Statutes of 2010, added the Arlington Million to the group
of specific stake races which are exempt from the 32-race
per day limit on imported races.
AB 3074 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 510,
Statutes of 2008, among other things, increased from 23 to
32, the limitation on the total number of out-of-state
thoroughbred races that may be imported per day by a
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thoroughbred association or fair that is conducting a live
race meet. Also, allowed a harness racing association in
California to import all of the races conducted on Kentucky
Futurity day.
AB 2048 (Silva), Chapter 439, Statutes of 2008, among other
things, allowed harness and quarter horse racing
associations and fairs to offer wagering on eight harness
or quarter horse races broadcast by satellite on each day
live races are run.
SB 1183 (Margett), Chapter 232, Statutes of 2004,
authorized a harness association to import the full cards
of races held by the association hosting the Breeder's
Crown Stakes, the Meadowlands Pace, the Hambletonian, or
the North American Cup on the days that those races are
being run.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/11)
Los Alamitos Racetrack
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
over the years existing law has been amended to allow
specific notable races to be imported outside of an
eight-race per day limit, as defined in current law. This
has been done for scheduling, promotional and financial
reasons. Additionally, the author's office points out that
there has been a general decline in the number of people
attending and wagering at live horse tracks in California
due to a number of factors, including increased competition
from other forms of gaming, unwillingness of customers to
travel a significant distance to racetracks and the
availability of off-track wagering. This decline in
attendance at live horse racing events has prompted
racetracks to rely on revenues from in-state and
out-of-state satellite wagering and account wagering.
This bill allows a quarter horse racing association in
California to import all of the races conducted on Texas
Classic Futurity and Remington Park Futurity day,
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irrespective of the eight race day limit. The Texas
Classic Futurity, run at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie,
carries a total purse (including two consolation races) of
$1 million. The Texas Classic Futurity is the richest race
in Texas and third richest Quarter Horse race in the world,
only behind the All American Futurity and Los Alamitos
Million.
The author's office believes this measure will give
California's quarter horse racing industry a marketing tool
to increase on-track and off-track attendance on this
specific day and provide the industry with a mechanism to
increase track commissions, purses, and breeder's awards.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 05/12/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, John A.
Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Eng, Garrick, Gorell, Mansoor,
Portantino, Torres, Yamada
PQ:nl 8/16/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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