BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 558
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
558 (Low)
As Amended March 1, 2016
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 14, 2015) |SENATE: |38-0 |(March 3, 2016) |
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |20-0 |(March 10, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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(G.O.)
Original Committee Reference: G.O.
SUMMARY: Provides that the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB)
may authorize a racing association licensed to conduct a
Thoroughbred race meet to include up to six non-Thoroughbred
AB 558
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races per calendar year pursuant to specified conditions.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Provide that the CHRB may authorize a licensed Thoroughbred
racing association to conduct up to six non-Thoroughbred races
per calendar year with the consent of the organization
representing Thoroughbred horsemen and horsewomen.
2)Make it explicit that a non-Thoroughbred race shall not be
held when a fair in the northern zone is conducting a race
meet without that fair's consent.
3)Require amounts from those wagers to be deducted and
distributed as if the wagers were placed on a Thoroughbred
race.
4)Make minor code maintenance changes, as specified.
5)Contain an urgency clause, to take effect immediately.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that the CHRB shall regulate the various forms of
horse racing authorized in this state.
2)Requires that any license granted to an association other than
a fair be only for one type of racing, Thoroughbred, harness,
or quarter horse racing, except that the CHRB may authorize
the entering of Thoroughbred horses at a distance not
exceeding five furlongs at quarter horse meetings, under
specified conditions.
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3)Provides that the CHRB may 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.
4)Provides that 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, as specified.
5)Authorizes the CHRB to allow pari-mutuel wagering on one
non-Thoroughbred race on the day that Breeders' Cup races are
run at a host venue in California.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill required the Department of
Technology to develop procedures to make large-scale information
technology procurements more efficient by requiring electronic
submission of bids and other documents whenever possible.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and
the Assembly-approved provisions of the bill were deleted.
Purpose of the bill: Current law provides for many different
types of wagering on horse racing in California including
Thoroughbreds, Appaloosas, Standardbreds, Quarter horses, and
Arabians. Each type of breed competes in restricted races for
their respective breed and generally, at designated race meets
throughout California with CHRB approval.
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The author's office notes, "There are over 653,000 purebred
Arabian horses in the United States. Five states currently
offer wagering on Arabian horse racing. Specifically, the
author's office references Churchill Downs and Keeneland (both
of which are in Kentucky) and Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland
which host grade I Arabian events as part of major race
programs. At racetracks around the world, these swift and
magnificent purebred horses are capturing the attention and
imagination of a large and growing racing public."
The author's office points out that racing in California was
legalized via a constitutional amendment in 1933 and since that
time Thoroughbred and quarter horses have been allowed to race
in virtually all flat races offered in the state while Arabians
have generally been restricted to racing at fair race meets
throughout California.
This bill is intended to permit Thoroughbred racing associations
that conduct Thoroughbred races to run up to 6 non-Thoroughbred
races (Arabian) per calendar year, as long as it doesn't
conflict with the Northern California fair circuit, which also
puts on races for the breed, and gets approval from the CHRB and
the owners organization that represents Thoroughbred horsemen
and horsewomen (Thoroughbred Owners of California).
Additionally, the author's office contends that this bill
contains an urgency clause to help facilitate a tentative
promotional and marketing agreement that the Los Angeles Turf
Club has reached with Arabian horse racing interests to showcase
Arabian horses over the Santa Anita Derby weekend (April 9 and
10).
On February 26, 2016, the CHRB approved a proposal from Santa
Anita Park to offer wagering on an Arabian race in April 2016,
pending the passage of this bill.
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Prior legislation: SB 819 (Committee on Governmental
Organization), Chapter 438, Statutes of 2013, among other
things, provided that the CHRB may authorize pari-mutuel
wagering on Breeders' Cup races to be run at the host venue and
on one non-Thoroughbred race, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by:
Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531 FN:
0002656