BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2619|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2619
Author: Gray (D)
Introduced:2/19/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 13-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Hall, Berryhill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Horse racing: quarter horse races
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill allows the California Horse Racing Board
(CHRB) to authorize a licensed quarter horse racing association
that is conducting a live racing meeting in this state to accept
wagers on a quarter horse stakes race with a purse equal to or
greater than $100,000.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides that CHRB shall regulate the various forms of horse
racing authorized in this state.
2)Provides that CHRB shall have all powers necessary to carry
out the purpose of the Horse Racing law, such as adopting
rules and regulations to protect the public, allocating dates
AB 2619
Page 2
for and controlling horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering, and
enforcing all rules and regulations.
3)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.
4)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 allows CHRB to authorize a licensed quarter horse
racing association that is conducting a live racing meeting in
this state to accept wagers on a quarter horse stakes race with
a purse equal to or greater than $100,000.
Background
Purpose of the bill. The author's office notes that 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 and accept wagers on a quarter horse stakes
race from across the country with a purse equal to or greater
than $100,000.
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Page 3
The author's office believes this bill will give California's
quarter horse racing industry a marketing tool to increase
on-track and off-track attendance on a specific day and provide
the industry with a mechanism to increase track commissions,
purses, and breeder's awards. Purses provide revenues directly
to horsemen (owners and trainers) through winnings of their
horses; purses also indirectly provide revenues to breeders.
Statistical data analysis has shown that as purses increase the
expected price of a buying a horse increases leading to an
increase in the supply of foals, yearlings and associated
bloodstock (mares and stallions).
Related Legislation
AB 558 (Low, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2016) provided that CHRB may
authorize a racing association licensed to conduct a
Thoroughbred race meet to include up to six non-Thoroughbred
races per calendar year pursuant to specified conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/1/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/1/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
AB 2619
Page 4
Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen
Prepared by: Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
8/3/16 19:38:11
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