BILL ANALYSIS
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 561
Author: Margett (R)
Amended: 7/15/08
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 8/11/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Horse racing: racing days
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill changes the number of live racing days
that maybe allocated by the California Horse Racing Board
to a Thoroughbred or fair racing association in the
northern zone.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete the contents of the Senate
version which authorized electronic terminal wagering
(Totalizator) to be used in parimutuel wagering on horse
racing, and instead, add provisions which change the number
of live racing days that may be allocated by the California
Horse Racing Board to a racing association or fair in the
northern zone, as specified, and (2) add an urgency clause.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
CONTINUED
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1. Provides that the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB)
regulate the various forms of horse racing authorized in
this state.
2. Allows CHRB to allocate a maximum of 14 days of horse
racing to any fair association in the northern zone.
The racing dates shall be days during the period in
which general fair activities are conducted.
3. Provides that any fair racing association that conducted
racing in the central or southern zone prior to January
1, 1980, shall be entitled to be allocated up to three
weeks of racing. The racing dates shall be days during
the period in which general fair activities are
conducted.
4. Permits CHRB to allocate horse racing dates for combined
fair race meetings under the following conditions:
A. CHRB will only allocate combined fair race
meeting dates between July 1 and October 31.
B. The total combined number of dates shall not
exceed the total dates of the combined fair racing
associations in 1995.
4. Permits the San Mateo County Fair to conduct a live
racing meeting in the northern zone at another site
within or outside San Mateo County if its present site,
Bay Meadows, closes.
5. Authorizes the Solano County Fair to conduct live racing
meetings at another site within or outside Solano
County, if the site of its 2002-racing meeting is no
longer available for horse racing in any subsequent
year.
6. Limits an association licensed to conduct Thoroughbred
racing in the northern zone to 22 weeks of that racing.
7. Requires CHRB or its subcommittees, to take public
testimony and make all determinations on the allocation
of racing dates during a public hearing.
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This bill:
1. Allows an association licensed to conduct Thoroughbred
racing in the northern zone up to 35 weeks of racing.
2. Expands the maximum period for racing allocated to a
fair to four weeks each year and would remove the
prohibition on racing outside of the period in which
general fair activities are conducted.
3. Authorizes combined fair horse racing meetings during
the month of June, and would delete that limitation on
the total combined number of dates for combined fair
horse racing meetings.
Comments
According to the author's office, in view of the prevailing
economic condition of horse racing in California, it might
be worthwhile for CHRB to grant fairs and Thoroughbred
association's greater flexibility to conduct live horse
racing activities in northern California. Currently, a
fair may not run more than 14 days and must operate those
dates during the time the fair is operating. If enacted,
this bill allows CHRB to allocate up to four weeks of
racing (28 days) to a fair in the northern zone even if the
fair is not conducting any type of fair activities. The
bill also allows a Thoroughbred racing association in the
northern zone to increase the number of racing weeks they
may run from 22 to 35 weeks.
The author's office states, due to the imminent closure of
Bay Meadows Racetrack in San Mateo for commercial and
residential development in November 2008, it is necessary
to expand the number of racing weeks that can be
potentially allocated to a fair or private association in
the northern racing zone. Without the ability to race
those days previously utilized by Bay Meadows Racing
Association, Thoroughbred racing in the northern California
will have to cease for specific days in the racing
calendar.
Currently, Bay Meadows Racetrack runs approximately 100
days of racing per year; it also houses hundreds of horses
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year-round in its stable area. Without Bay Meadows, the
only major Thoroughbred track in northern California will
be Golden Gate Fields in Albany, which is owned by Magna
Entertainment and runs approximately 100 days of live
racing each year. It is expected that Golden Gate Fields,
the Alameda County Fair and the Sonoma County Fair will
have bigger roles in future years as it relates to racing
dates and/or the stabling and training of racehorses.
There is an abundance of testimony in the legislative
record regarding the economic condition of the horseracing
industry, and specifically, the direct impact on the
allocation of race dates. The Division of Fairs and
Expositions within the Department of Food and Agriculture
completed an overall analysis of live horse racing at fairs
and concluded among other things, that the activity is
extremely important to a fairs financial viability.
This bill gives the CHRB the flexibility to allocate race
dates in the northern zone in a manner that protects the
interests of all who work and race in northern California.
There are large questions that need to be answered in
California's racing industry relating to its future. The
industry is in the process of identifying what the
possibilities are and deciding which ones are realistic and
which ones are unrealistic.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Third Reading analysis, potential
increase in state license fee revenues from increased
wagering opportunities.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/13/08)
Golden Gate Fields
Santa Anita Racecourse
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall,
Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre,
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De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno,
Levine, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava,
Niello, Nunez, Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer,
Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters,
Wolk, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Lieber, Sharon Runner, Soto
TSM:do 8/13/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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