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: 8/18/08 in Senate
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.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/08 eliminate the ceiling on
the total number of out-of-state thoroughbred races that
may be imported in a given year. In addition, the
amendments increase, from 23 to 32, the limitation on the
total number of out-of-state thoroughbred races that may be
imported per day by a thoroughbred association or fair that
CONTINUED
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is conducting a live race meet.
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
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
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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
with the race.
Existing law authorizes a thoroughbred racing association
or fair to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept
wagers on the results of out-of-state thoroughbred races
conducted in the United States during the calendar period
the association or fair is conducting a race meeting,
including days on which there is no live racing being
conducted by the association or fair, without the consent
of the organization that represents horsemen participating
in the race meeting and without regard to the amount of
purse, provided however, that the total number of
thoroughbred races on which wagers are accepted statewide
in any given year does not exceed the total number of
thoroughbred races on which wagers were accepted in 1998.
Existing law also provides, subject to exceptions, that the
total number of thoroughbred races imported by associations
or fairs on a statewide basis under these provisions not
exceed 23 days on days when live thoroughbred or fair
racing is being conducted in the state.
This bill deletes the restriction limiting the total number
of thoroughbred races on which wagers are accepted
statewide in any given year to a number not exceeding the
total in 1998, as specified. The bill also provides that,
subject to exceptions, the total number of thoroughbred
races imported by associations or fairs on a statewide
basis under these provisions shall not exceed 32 per day on
days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being
conducted in the state.
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
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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 8/19/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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