BILL NUMBER: AB 2048 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Silva
FEBRUARY 19, 2008
An act to amend Section 19533 19596.1
of the Business and Professions Code, relating to horse racing
, and making an appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2048, as amended, Silva. Horse racing: thoroughbred
racing. harness or quarter horse races: out-of-state
or out-of-country.
Under existing law, the California Horse Racing Board is
authorized to permit 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 7 live races and imports not more than
6 races on live racing days.
This bill would revise that provision to instead permit the
association to import not more than 8 races on live racing days.
Under existing law, revenues distributed to the state as license
fees from horse racing are required to be deposited in the Fair and
Exposition Fund and are continuously appropriated to the Department
of Food and Agriculture for various regulatory and general
governmental purposes.
By providing for the importation of additional out-of-state and
out-of-country races, this bill would authorize additional wagering,
and would increase the amount of continuously appropriated license
fees, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law gives the California Horse Racing Board the authority
to regulate horse racing and parimutuel wagering on horse races in
California. Existing law generally requires that any license granted
to an association other than a fair shall be for only a single type
of racing, except that the board may authorize the participation of
thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses in quarter horse races subject to
specified conditions. Existing law also provides that any association
licensed to conduct quarter horse racing may apply to the board for,
and be granted, the authority to conduct thoroughbred racing as part
of its racing program, provided that specified conditions are met,
including, among others, that the thoroughbred races are for a
claiming price of not more than $5,000.
This bill would increase the claiming price to not more than
$8,000.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no yes . Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19596.1 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
19596.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
board may authorize a harness or quarter horse association conducting
a race meeting to accept wagers on the results of out-of-state or
out-of-country harness or quarter horse races and, with the board's
approval and with the concurrence of the horsemen's organization
contracting with the association, other designated harness or quarter
horse races during the period it is conducting the racing meeting,
if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The authorization complies with federal laws, including, but
not limited to, Chapter 57 (commencing with Section 3001) of Title 15
of the United States Code.
(2) Wagering is offered only within the racing inclosure and only
within 36 hours of the running of the out-of-state feature race.
(3) The association conducts at least seven live races, and
imports not more than six eight races
on those days during a racing meeting when live races are being run,
except as provided in subdivision (b).
(4) If only one breed of horse specified in this section is being
raced on a given day, then the association conducting the live racing
may import those races which would otherwise be simulcast by the
association which is not racing, provided that the total number of
harness or quarter horse races imported in a calendar year does not
exceed the number of night races imported in 1998 after 5:30 p.m.
After the usual deductions, including the portion for the racing
association, the portion remaining for purses from these races shall
be distributed equally for purses for harness horsemen and quarter
horse horsemen.
(5) No quarter horse or harness racing association shall accept
wagers on out-of-state or out-of-country quarter horse or harness
races commencing before 5:30 p.m., Pacific standard time, without the
consent of any thoroughbred association or fair that is then
conducting a live racing meeting in this state.
(b) An association that is authorized to import races pursuant to
subdivision (a) may, at its sole discretion, import fewer than the
maximum number of harness or quarter horse races authorized in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a). For up to two races per night, for
each race that is not imported under the maximum authorized by
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) on a particular night of racing, the
association may add a race to the number of races allowable under
the maximum authorization on another night of racing. However, no
more than two races may be added under this subdivision to the number
allowable on a single night, and the total number of imported races
over a calendar year may not exceed the total number of imported
races authorized pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision
(a).
SECTION 1. Section 19533 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
19533. (a) Any license granted to an association other than a
fair shall be only for one type of racing, thoroughbred, harness, or
quarter horse racing as the case may be, except that the board may
authorize the entering of thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses in
quarter horse races at a distance not exceeding five furlongs at
quarter horse meetings, mixed breed meetings, and fair meetings. If
the board authorizes the entering of thoroughbred or Appaloosa horses
in quarter horse races, the following conditions shall be met:
(1) Any race written for participation by quarter horses,
Appaloosas, and thoroughbreds shall be written as quarter horse
preferred.
(2) The number of races written as quarter horse preferred at a
distance exceeding 870 yards shall not exceed more than three races
per program without the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's
organization contracting with the association.
(3) More than one-half of the races on any program shall be for
quarter horses at a distance not to exceed 550 yards, unless the
consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization is received.
(4) Mixed races with Appaloosa and quarter horses may only be
written with the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization
contracting with the association.
(5) Thoroughbreds shall constitute less than half the number of
horses in these races although an exception may be granted on a
race-to-race basis with the consent of the quarter horse horsemen's
organization contracting with the association.
(b) The association that conducts the meeting shall pay to a
thoroughbred trainers' organization an amount for a pension plan for
backstretch personnel to be administered by that trainers'
organization equivalent to 1 percent of the amount available to
thoroughbred horses for purses. The remainder of the portion shall be
distributed as purses. Any redistributable money paid to the board
pursuant to Section 19641, which is paid to a welfare fund
established by a horsemen's organization from races with both
thoroughbred and quarter horses, shall be divided pro rata between
the two welfare funds based on the number of thoroughbreds and
quarter horses in the race.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
association licensed to conduct quarter horse racing may apply to the
board for, and the board shall grant, authority to conduct
thoroughbred racing as part of its racing program if all of the
following conditions are met:
(A) The thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more
than eight thousand dollars ($8,000), and at a distance of four and
one-half furlongs or less. The races may not be stakes, allowance
races, or maiden allowance races.
(B) More than one-half of the races on any program shall be for
quarter horses at a distance not to exceed 550 yards, unless the
consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization is received.
(C) The consent of the quarter horse horsemen's organization
contracting with the association is obtained with respect to the
inclusion of thoroughbred racing.
(2) The quarter horse racing association conducting thoroughbred
racing pursuant to this subdivision shall pay to a quarter horse
horsemen's organization the amount specified in subdivision (e) of
Section 19613, and an amount for a pension plan for backstretch
personnel to be administered by a thoroughbred trainers' organization
equivalent to 1 percent of the amount available to thoroughbred
horses for purses. The remainder of the portion shall be distributed
as purses. The quarter horse racing association shall also deduct the
appropriate amount to comply with subdivision (a) of Section 19617.2
for distribution to the thoroughbred official registering agency.