BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2592 (Chesbro) - California Horse Racing Board
Amended: April 28, 2014 Policy Vote: GO 6-3
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2592 requires the California Horse Racing
Board (CHRB) to conduct an economic analysis on the impact that
any proposal to change fair racing dates or weeks would have on
the affected fair, before voting on that proposal.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, potential costs of $96,000 to the CHRB if two
economic analyses are required annually (General Fund)
The California Horse Racing Board estimates costs of $48,000 to
contract out for the performance of one economic impact
analysis. If two analyses were conducted each year costs would
be $96,000. The CHRB has indicated there could be up to seven
analyses required each year resulting in costs of $336,000 as
oftentimes the shifting of one fair's racing dates affects one
or more other fairs.
Background: Existing law provides the CHRB with fully authority
to allocate racing weeks and to specify those racing days,
dates, and hours for horse racing meetings. The decision of the
board as to racing days, dates, and hours is subject to change
or limitation only by the CHRB. A municipality or county can
not adopt or enforce any ordinance or regulation that has or may
have the effect of directly or indirectly regulating, limiting,
or restricting the racing days and dates of horse racing
meetings.
Existing law limits the allocation of dates for mixed breed
meetings and combined fair horse racing meetings to the period
of June 1 and October 31 of every year. The maximum number of
racing weeks that may be allocated to a fair is four weeks each
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year. The CHRB is required to take public testimony and make
all determinations on the allocation of racing dates during a
public hearing.
The allocation of racing dates for a mixed-breed meeting or a
combined fair horse racing meeting is prohibited during the
month of June at Cal-Expo if a Standardbred meeting is being
conducted at that facility during that month.
Proposed Law: AB 2592 requires the California Horse Racing
Board to conduct an economic impact analysis whenever it
receives a proposal to make a substantial change to the number
of days a fair conducts races or to the weeks in the horse
racing calendar allocated to that fair. The economic analysis
will include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
1) The financial loss or gain to each fair impacted by the
proposed fair horse racing calendar changes, including the
impact on fair admissions, concessions, and sponsorship.
2) Jobs generated or lost due to the proposed fair horse racing
calendar changes.
3) Availability of seasonable workers as a result of the fair
horse racing calendar changes.
4) Impact on agricultural education programs, if applicable.
5) Financial impact on the community at large due to the
changes to the fair horse racing calendar.
AB 2592 requires the board to consider all proposed alternative
racing dates based on that economic analysis that is conducted
before the board votes on the proposal or any alternative option
to the original proposal.
"Substantial change" is defined as any change within the fair
horse racing calendar that changes the allocation of racing
dates to that fair by more than three days from the prior year's
horse racing dates.
Staff Comments: AB 2592 is intended to provide the CHRB
commissioners with important information about the fair industry
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experience before making substantial changes in the fair racing
dates.