BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 3074|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 3074
Author: Assembly Governmental Organization Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 27
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE : 9-0, 06/24/08
AYES: Florez, Battin, Denham, Harman, Negrete McLeod,
Padilla, Vincent, Wiggins, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-2, 05/15/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Horse racing
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill authorizes 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 Kentucky
Futurity.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes the California Horse
Racing Board (CHRB) to regulate the various forms of horse
racing authorized in this state.
Existing law authorizes a licensed harness racing
association that is conducting a live racing meeting in
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this state to accept wagers on the full card of races
conducted by another racing association on the day that
other association conducts the Breeder's Crown Stakes, the
Meadowlands Pace, the Hambletonian, or the North American
Cup.
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 authorizes Thoroughbred racing association or
fairs to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept
wagers on the results of certain out-of-state and
international Thoroughbred races during the calendar period
the association or fair is conducting living racing,
including days on which there is no live racing being
conducted by the association or fair.
Existing law limits the number of races that may be
imported by associations and fairs to no more than 23 races
per day on days when live Thoroughbred or fair racing is
being conducted in this state, with specified exceptions.
Existing law exempts from that 23-race per day limit races
imported that are part of the race card for certain
prominent races, including the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky
Oaks, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Jockey
Club Gold Cup, the Breeders' Cup, or the Haskell
Invitational.
This bill allows a harness racing association in California
to import all of the races conducted on Kentucky Futurity
day, irrespective of the six-race day limit in law. The
Kentucky Futurity is a stakes race for three-year-0ld
trotters, held annually at The Red Mile in Lexington,
Kentucky since 1893. It is part of the Triple Crown of
Harness Racing for Trotters. It is one of the few events
in the sport that uses the traditional format in which a
horse must win two heats to take home the trophy. Winning
the Kentucky Futurity has never been only about money, it
has also been about the prestige and tradition associated
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with the race.
Comments
Purpose of the Bill . According to the author's office,
this bill will give the California harness racing industry
a marketing tool to increase on-track and off-track
attendance on the day that the Kentucky Futurity is run.
Further, the author's office contends that the bill will
provide the industry with a mechanism to increase track
commissions, purses, breeder's awards, and state license
fees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg,
Berryhill, Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garcia, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton,
Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Keene,
Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieu, Ma, Maze,
Mendoza, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Nunez, Parra, Plescia,
Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Charles Calderon, Dymally,
Garrick, Karnette, Lieber, Mullin, Soto
TSM:cm 7/8/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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