BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1523 (Strickland) - Retired Race Horses.
Amended: April 16, 2012 Policy Vote: GO 12-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 7, 2012 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1523 requires the California Horse Racing Board
(CHRB) to establish a program for the rehabilitation and
retraining of California race horses in state prisons.
Fiscal Impact: Loss of revenue of approximately $1.1 million
(General Fund) annually as follows:
Redirection of approximately $250,000 in fines and
penalties annually from the General Fund to the Fund for
Retired California Race Horses.
Redirection of approximately $850,000 annually in license
fee revenue from the CHRB to the Fund for Retired California
Race Horses.
Background: In 1987 the California Correctional Center (CCC), a
minimum security facility at Susanville, operated a "certified
90 day horse gentling program" for wild horses as one of the
CCC's vocational programs. After the program, the horses became
candidates for the periodic public horse adoptions held at the
prison.
In 2007, the CHRB approved a voluntary purse deduction of 0.3%
to fund The California Retirement Management Account (CARMA).
CARMA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that distributes
monies to California facilities that provide rehabilitation
services to retired thoroughbreds. Although revenue was
estimated at $200,000 annually, contributions to this account
are voluntary and insufficient to retrain the estimated 1,500
horses that are retired from California racetracks each year.
Race horses are trained as yearlings and the focus is running
and getting ready for a race. A rehabilitation period is
necessary to acclimate these horses to a life style that does
not revolve around racing. In addition, the horses often need
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to be weaned off of a diet of high energy grains and sometimes
even need to undergo a detoxification period before they are
compatible for adoption.
Proposed Law: SB 1523 requires the CHRB to establish a program
for the rehabilitation and retraining of California race horses
in state prisons as follows:
a) Provides that the program will be developed by the board
and administered by a nonprofit organization.
b) Requires the CHRB and the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to approve the nonprofit
organization.
c) Creates the Fund for Retired California Race Horses
(RCRH), and continuously appropriates the money in that
fund.
d) Provides that all money from penalties and fines
currently imposed by the stewards of a horse race meeting
will be deposited into the Fund for Retired California Race
Horses, instead of the General Fund.
e) Provides that all revenues from fees currently paid to
the CHRB for occupational licenses will be deposited into
the RCRH Fund.
f) Requires the CHRB to adopt regulations for the
management and distributions of money in the new fund.
g) Requires the nonprofit organization and the CDCR to
submit a budget for the ensuing calendar year at the
board's November meeting each year, and to file quarterly
financial statements with the board.
SB 1523 will establish a program where retired race horses can
be retrained by inmates of the CDCR as part of their
rehabilitation and vocational training in a curriculum modeled
after similar programs in other states such as Virginia,
Indiana, Maryland, Nevada and Kentucky. It is estimated that
1,500 California race horses end their racing careers each year.
Staff Comments: Existing law requires persons who participate in
horse racing, including horse owners, jockeys drivers,
apprentices, grooms, and valets to be licensed by the board and
to pay license fees to the CHRB. SB 1523 will redirect that fee
revenue from the CHRB to the Fund for Retired California Race
Horses.
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Costs to run the rehabilitation program will include the
construction of suitable facilities at the selected correctional
facilities, wages to inmates, the care and feeding of the
horses, salaries of correctional officers, and a wrangler at
each facility.
Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends the continuous
appropriation in the Fund for Retired California Race Horses be
deleted in order to provide the Legislature with continued
oversight of the moneys in the fund through the annual Budget
Act.