BILL NUMBER: SB 766	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act  to add Section 19605.10 to the Business and
Professions Code,  relating to horse racing.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 766, as amended, Negrete McLeod. Horse racing. 
   Existing law, until January 1, 2011, authorizes racing
associations, fairs, and other related organizations to form a
private, statewide marketing organization to market and promote
thoroughbred and fair horse racing, and to obtain, provide, or defray
the cost of workers' compensation coverage for stable employees and
jockeys of thoroughbred trainers. A specified percentage of the
amount handled by each satellite wagering facility is required to be
distributed to that statewide marketing organization for those
purposes of promotion and defraying the cost of workers' compensation
coverage. Existing law also provides that any promotion funds not
expended in the year in which they are collected may be expended in
the following year.  
   Existing law, until January 1, 2014, provides that every
thoroughbred association and fair that conducts a racing meet shall
deduct a percentage of the total amount handled in exotic parimutuel
pools of thoroughbred races, which shall be distributed to an
organization, as specified, to defray costs of workers' compensation
insurance in connection with thoroughbred horses that race in this
state, as specified. Existing law provides that any funds that are
not used to defray the cost of workers' compensation insurance shall
either be carried forward to the subsequent year or used to reimburse
racing associations for safety-related expenditures, as specified.
 
   This bill would provide that, in the event there are at any time
uncommitted surplus funds in accounts created pursuant to the above
provisions of existing law, those unexpended funds may, at the
request of the organization governing those funds and with the
approval of the California Horse Racing Board, be reallocated to any
other fund or account created pursuant to the Horse Racing Law. 

   Existing law, the Horse Racing Law, generally regulates horse
racing and parimutuel wagering on horse races. Existing law requires
various deductions and distributions to be made from parimutuel pools
as specified.  
   This bill would express the Legislature's findings and
declarations regarding the threat to the horse racing industry in
California due to escalating costs. The bill would declare the intent
of the Legislature to enact legislation to deduct an additional
percentage of the total amount handled in parimutuel pools of
thoroughbred horse races, to establish a joint powers agency to
collect that additional money and issue bonds, and to use the money
primarily for capital improvement financing. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) The existence of high caliber thoroughbred horse racing in
California is important to the state's agricultural economy.
   (2) The California horse racing industry is being threatened by
the escalating costs of doing business in California, including, but
not limited to, workers' compensation insurance costs. These costs
are not only causing thoroughbred horses and trainers to leave the
state, but are also discouraging owners and trainers from bringing
horses into this state to compete.
   (b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to provide some
relief from these escalating costs through the redistribution of the
parimutuel handle on wagers. 
   (c) In this regard, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would do all of the following:  
   (1) Deduct an additional percentage of the total amount handled in
all parimutuel pools of thoroughbred races run in California.
 
   (2) Establish a joint powers agency to collect and distribute the
money accumulated pursuant to paragraph (1), to issue bonds, and to
be accountable to the California Horse Racing Board for the use of
those funds.  
   (3) Use the money collected pursuant to paragraph (1) primarily
for the financing of capital improvements to provide adequate
stabling and training facilities for thoroughbred horses, and
secondarily to supplement the costs of workers' compensation
insurance incurred in connection with thoroughbred horse racing.

   SEC. 2.   Section 19605.10 is added to the  
Business and Professions Code   , to read:  
   19605.10.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the
event there are at any time uncommitted surplus funds in accounts
created pursuant to Sections 19605.73 and 19605.75, those unexpended
funds may, at the request of the organization governing those funds
and with the approval of the board, be reallocated to any other fund
or account created pursuant to this chapter.