BILL NUMBER: AB 558	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  3
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MARCH 29, 2016
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  MARCH 29, 2016
	PASSED THE SENATE  MARCH 3, 2016
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 1, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  FEBRUARY 10, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Low
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gray and Linder)
   (Coauthors: Senators Fuller, Gaines, and Huff)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to amend Section 19533.5 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to horse racing, and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 558, Low. Horse racing: nonthoroughbred races.
   (1) The Horse Racing Law generally requires that any license
granted to an association other than a fair is only for one type of
racing, thoroughbred, harness, or quarter horse racing, as the case
may be, except that the California Horse Racing Board may authorize
the entering of thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses in quarter horse
races at a distance not exceeding 5 furlongs at quarter horse
meetings, mixed breed meetings, and fair meetings under specified
conditions. That law, notwithstanding these provisions, empowers the
board to authorize mixed breed racing that sanctions, among other
things, either an association to conduct a quarter horse meeting to
include Appaloosa races and Arabian races with the consent of the
quarter horse horsemen's organization or a race between a quarter
horse and a thoroughbred horse at a thoroughbred meeting with the
consent of the thoroughbred horsemen's organization, if each
contracts with the association with respect to the conduct of the
racing meeting.
   This bill would empower the board to authorize an association
licensed to conduct a thoroughbred race meeting to include up to 6
nonthoroughbred races per calendar year with the consent of the
organization representing thoroughbred horsemen and horsewomen,
provided, however, that a nonthoroughbred race shall not be held when
a fair in the northern zone is conducting a race meeting without
that fair's consent. Amounts deducted and distributed pursuant to the
Horse Racing Law from wagering on nonthoroughbred races authorized
pursuant to these provisions would be required to be deducted and
distributed as if the wagers were placed on a thoroughbred race. By
expanding the provisions of the Horse Racing Law, a violation of
which is a crime, the bill would create new crimes and would thereby
impose a state-mandated local program.
   (2) 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.
   (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 19533.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   19533.5.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 19533, the board may
authorize the following mixed breed racing:
   (1) An association licensed to conduct a quarter horse meeting to
include Appaloosa races and Arabian races with the consent of the
quarter horse horsemen's organization contracting with the
association with respect to the conduct of the racing meeting.
   (2) A race between a quarter horse and a thoroughbred horse at a
thoroughbred meeting with the consent of the thoroughbred horsemen's
organization contracting with the association with respect to the
conduct of the racing meeting.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 19533, an association licensed to
conduct quarter horse racing or a fair may conduct races that include
paint horses racing with quarter horses or Appaloosa horses in the
same race. When paint horses race with quarter horses, the consent of
the organization that represents quarter horse horsemen and
horsewomen shall first be obtained. A quarter horse association may
write a race for paint horses only to replace an Appaloosa or Arabian
race without increasing the average number of races run per race day
with the consent of the organization representing the quarter
horsemen and horsewomen.
   (c) A quarter horse race with seven or more entries shall not be
replaced by a race that includes paint horses, without the consent of
the organization that represents quarter horse horsemen and
horsewomen.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other law, a quarter horse racing
association or fair conducting barrel racing, paint horse racing,
show jump racing, or steeplechase racing shall pay to the quarter
horsemen's organization the amount specified in Section 19613 for
purposes of representing the horsemen and horsewomen conducting these
races.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 19533, the board may authorize an
association licensed to conduct a thoroughbred race meeting to
include up to six nonthoroughbred races per calendar year with the
consent of the organization representing thoroughbred horsemen and
horsewomen, provided, however, that a nonthoroughbred race shall not
be held when a fair in the northern zone is conducting a race meeting
without that fair's consent. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of
Section 19617.8, amounts deducted and distributed pursuant to this
chapter from wagering on nonthoroughbred races authorized pursuant to
this section shall be deducted and distributed as if the wagers were
placed on a thoroughbred race.
  SEC. 2.  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.
  SEC. 3.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to ensure that the horse racing industry may continue to
offer the highest level of racing possible and promote horse racing
in California, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.