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SB-873 Special Trust Fund for the Economic Stabilization of Fairs and Horse Racing.(2007-2008)

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SB873:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  April 25, 2007

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 873

Introduced  by  Senator Florez

February 23, 2007

An act to amend Sections 19606.1, 19606.4, 19606.5, 19620.1, 19621, 19640, and 19641 of, to repeal Section 19606.3 of, and to repeal and add Section 19616.51 of, the Business and Professions Code, and to add Section 12012.6 to the Government Code, relating to horse racing, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 873, as amended, Florez. Special Trust Fund for the Economic Stabilization of Fairs and Horse Racing.
Existing law regulates horse racing. Existing federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments of tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes.
This bill would create the Special Trust Fund for the Economic Stabilization of Fairs and Horse Racing within the Fair and Exposition Fund, into which a portion of the funds generated from gaming activities authorized pursuant to all new tribal-state compacts that are ratified, or existing compacts that are amended, on or after January 1, 2007, would be deposited. The bill would specify how the moneys in that fund would be disbursed annually. To the extent that the bill would create a fund that would be continuously appropriated, the bill would create an appropriation.
Under existing law, if the total amount paid to the state by racing associations and fairs is less than $40,000,000 in any calendar year, all associations and fairs that conducted live racing during the year of the shortfall are required to remit certain amounts in order to attain that $40,000,000 total.
This bill would repeal that provision and instead provide that a racing association or fair licensed to conduct a racing meeting shall retain the license fees that the association or fair would otherwise remit to the California Horse Racing Board, to be paid in to the State Treasury for deposit into the Fair and Exposition Fund or the General Fund. The bill would specify how the amounts retained pursuant to that provision would be distributed.
Under existing law, not more than 5% of the Fair and Exposition Fund may be used during any fiscal year to augment the budget of the Department of Food and Agriculture to develop and administer an operational and policy framework for the network of California fairs.
This bill would change that percentage to 4%.
Under existing law, all money representing penalties or fines imposed by the stewards of a horse racing meeting, and all redistributable money received by the board from other meetings, is required to be deposited into the General Fund.
This bill would instead require that money to be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund. To the extent the bill would increase the amount of money in the Fair and Exposition Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would create an appropriation.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

SECTION 1.

 (1) California’s horse racing industry makes an important contribution to California’s overall economy and is a vital component of the state’s agricultural community.
(2) The horse racing industry provides over 54,000 jobs industrywide and generates critical financial support for California’s network of fairs.
(3) The rapid expansion of tribal gaming has contributed to a significant decline in revenue for the horse racing industry.
(4) Certain provisions of the tribal gaming compacts place the horse racing industry at a competitive disadvantage with other states that offer higher purses subsidized by alternative gaming activities.
(5) The compacts proposed after August 1, 2006, will have an additional adverse impact on the horse racing industry, further jeopardizing the economic stability of horse racing in California.
(6) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this act, to mitigate those adverse impacts on the horse racing industry and to help ensure the survival of the industry in California, protect the jobs that it provides, and sustain the contribution it makes to the state’s economy.
(b) A portion of the revenue contributions made to the state pursuant to the tribal-state gaming compacts ratified after January 1, 2007, shall be deposited into the Special Trust Fund for Economic Stabilization of Horse Racing in California, as specified pursuant to amended tribal-state gaming compacts, or new compacts entered into and ratified after January 1, 2007, shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Fair and Exposition Fund for the financial support of the network of California fairs and for the economic stabilization of horse racing in California, as specified in Sections 19606.1 and 19620.1 of the Business and Professions Code and in Section 12012.6 of the Government Code, and the remainder shall be deposited into the General Fund.

SEC. 2.

 Section 19606.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19606.1.
 (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 19606.3, all revenues distributed to the state as license fees from satellite wagering facilities All revenues paid to the credit of the Fair and Exposition Fund, as specified in Section 19620.1, shall be deposited in a separate account in the fund and, notwithstanding, the Special Trust Fund for the Economic Stabilization of Fairs and Horse Racing, formerly known as the Satellite Wagering Account. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, funds in the Special Trust Fund for the Economic Stabilization of Fairs and Horse Racing are continuously appropriated from that account fund to the Department of Food and Agriculture, for allocation by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, at his or her discretion, in the priority listed and for the purposes set forth in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive. The concurrence of the Director of Finance shall be required for allocations pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2). Allocations pursuant to paragraphs (3) to (6), inclusive, shall be made with the concurrence of the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification.
(1) For the repayment of the principal of, interest on, and costs of issuance of, and as security, including any coverage factor, pledged to the payment of, bonds issued or to be issued by a joint powers agency or other debt service or expense, including repayment of any advances made or security required by any provider of credit enhancement or liquidity for those bonds or other indebtedness or expenses of maintaining that credit enhancement or liquidity, incurred for the purpose of constructing or acquiring improvements at a fair’s racetrack inclosure, satellite wagering facilities at fairs, health and safety repair projects, or handicapped access compliance projects at fairs or for the purpose of refunding bonds or other indebtedness incurred for those purposes. As used in this paragraph, “coverage factor” means revenues in excess of the amount necessary to pay debt service on the bonds or other indebtedness, up to an amount equal to 100 percent more than the amount of that debt service, which a joint powers agency, pursuant to the resolution or indenture under which the bonds or other indebtedness are or will be issued, pledges as additional security for the payment of that debt service or is required to have or maintain as a condition to the issuance of additional bonds or other indebtedness. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may also commit any funds available for allocation under Article 10 (commencing with Section 19620) to the repayment of debt service on the bonds or other indebtedness to complete projects funded under this paragraph in the priority described in this paragraph ., in accordance with the following:
(A) Fifty-eight percent of those proceeds shall be used for the purpose of constructing or acquiring improvements primarily for thoroughbred racing at one fair’s racetrack inclosure in the central zone.
(B) Twenty-six percent of those proceeds shall be used for the purpose of constructing or acquiring improvements primarily for thoroughbred racing at one fair’s racetrack inclosure in the northern zone.
(C) Four percent of those proceeds shall be used for the purpose of constructing or acquiring improvements primarily for harness racing at one fair’s racetrack inclosure in the northern zone.
(D) Two percent of those proceeds shall be used for the purpose of constructing or acquiring improvements primarily for thoroughbred racing at one fair’s racetrack inclosure in the southern zone.
(E) Ten percent of those proceeds shall be used for the purpose of funding health and safety related projects at fairs pursuant to paragraph (3).
(2) For payment to the State Race Track Leasing Commission to be pledged for the repayment of debt necessary to construct a racetrack grandstand at the 22nd District Agricultural Association fairgrounds. This payment shall be made only if the Secretary of Food and Agriculture determines, annually, that all other pledged revenues have been applied to the repayment of that debt and have been determined by the secretary to be inadequate for that purpose.
(3) For the payment of expenses incurred in establishing and operating satellite wagering facilities at fairs health and safety repair projects at fairs, including fire and life safety improvement projects, regulatory compliance projects, and long-term deferred maintenance projects.
(4) For the support of an equipment and operating fund to produce and display a consolidated California signal at satellite wagering facilities and fairs supplementing purses at fair meetings to achieve the purposes of Section 19606.4. The amount allocated pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed one million one hundred thousand dollars ($1,100,000) in any calendar year.
(5) For health and safety repair projects at fairs, which includes fire and life safety improvement projects, California Code of Regulations compliance projects, and long-term deferred maintenance projects the payment of expenses incurred in establishing and operating satellite wagering facilities at fairs or wagering outlets at locations other than fairs that generate revenue for the network of fairs.
(6) For the development and payment of revenue generating projects, the establishment of pilot projects to restructure the current fair system, and for projects realizing a cost savings for more efficient utilization of existing fair resources.
(b) The Secretary of Food and Agriculture may not make an allocation for purposes of paragraphs (2) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (a) until the payments required in any fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) have been funded.
(c) Pursuant to subdivision (a), the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification shall review and concur, or not concur, with the secretary’s determination of the allocations to be made pursuant to paragraphs (3) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (a) in total, and the committee may not add to, or delete projects or line items from, the proposed allocations.
(d) Approval of the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification is deemed complete when one of the following conditions is met:
(1) The annual budget act is enacted.
(2) If the secretary’s recommendations are received by the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification after the enactment of the annual budget act, the recommendations shall be deemed approved 30 days after they are received unless they are rejected by the committee.
(e) If the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification does not concur with the secretary’s recommendations, the secretary may submit another set of recommendations to the committee pursuant to this section.
(f) The payments required in any fiscal year for the purposes of paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, and (2) of subdivision (a) shall be made before any transfer is made pursuant to subdivision (g).
(g) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (f), when the revenues deposited in the separate account exceed eleven million dollars ($11,000,000) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) in any fiscal year, 98 percent of the amount in excess of eleven million dollars ($11,000,000) fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be transferred to the Fair and Exposition Fund for allocation in accordance with Sections 19620.1 and 19630.
(h) All of the costs of administering the accounts created by subdivision (a) and Section 19606.3 shall be charged to the respective accounts.

SEC. 3.

 Section 19606.3 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
19606.3.

The first one million one hundred thousand dollars ($1,100,000) of all revenues distributed to racing associations for payment to the state as license fees shall be deposited in a special account in the fund and, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, are hereby continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for supplementing purses at fair meetings to achieve the purposes of Section 19606.4.

SEC. 4.

 Section 19606.4 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19606.4.
 It is the intent of the Legislature that funds allocated pursuant to Section 19606.3 paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 19606.1 be used primarily at fair racing meetings in the northern zone with a daily average handle of more than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000). The Legislature further finds that its intent is that these allocations be used to bring the purses at these fairs, exclusive of purses for stakes races and special events, to a level of at least 80 percent of purses for similar classes of horses at private associations in the northern zone. The funds shall be used among all breeds. For fair racing meetings in the northern zone with a daily average handle of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) or less, it is the intent of the Legislature to bring the purses to a level of at least 25 percent of purses for similar classes of horses at private associations in the northern zone. Any funds remaining after meeting the requirements of this section shall be used at fair meetings in the northern zone as additional purses.

SEC. 5.

 Section 19606.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19606.5.
 Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 19641, the state shall receive as additional license fees 50 percent of any redistributable money in a parimutuel pool arising from wagers at a satellite wagering facility in the central or southern zone, subject to payment to a claimant pursuant to Section 19598, but not successfully claimed within that period, and the funds shall be deposited in the General Fair and Exposition Fund. The remaining 50 percent of redistributable money in a parimutuel pool arising from wagers at a satellite wagering facility shall be paid to a welfare fund established by the horsemen's organization contracting with the association conducting the racing meeting for the benefit of horsemen, and that organization shall make an accounting to the board within one calendar year of the receipt of the payment.

SEC. 6.

 Section 19616.51 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
19616.51.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the total amount paid to the state by racing associations and fairs pursuant to this chapter is less than forty million dollars ($40,000,000) in any calendar year, beginning January 1, 2001, and thereafter, all associations and fairs that conducted live racing during the year of shortfall shall remit to the state, on a pro rata basis according to the amount handled in-state by each association or fair, the amount necessary to bring the total amount paid to the state to forty million dollars ($40,000,000). The amounts due under this section, if any, shall be paid from the amount available for commissions, purses, and breeder awards, and shall be paid to the board prior to March 1 of the year following the year of the shortfall.

SEC. 7.

 Section 19616.51 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

19616.51.
 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any racing association or fair licensed to conduct a race meeting shall retain the license fees that the association or fair would otherwise remit to the board, to be paid into the State Treasury for deposit to the Fair and Exposition Fund or the General Fund. These fees shall not include amounts paid pursuant to Sections 19640, 19641 and 19642. The amounts retained pursuant to this section shall be distributed as follows:
(a) Sixty-one hundredths of 1 percent shall be distributed to the jockeys’ organization certified pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 19612.9 for the purpose of funding health, welfare, or retirement programs for professional jockeys who ride races in California, retired jockeys who rode races in California, and their dependents.
(b) With respect to each breed of racing that originate in California for each racing meeting, after the distribution of the amount set forth in paragraph (1), the amount remaining shall be distributed by the racing association or fair that is conducting the racing meeting to horsemen participating in that racing meeting in the form of purses, and as incentive awards, in the same relative proportion as they were generated or earned during the prior calendar year at that racing association or fair on races conducted or imported by that racing association or fair, after making all deductions required by applicable law. As used in this section, “incentive awards” mean those payments provided for in Sections 19617.2, 19617.7, 19617.8, 19617.9, and 19619. The amount determined to be payable for incentive awards shall be payable to the applicable official registering agency and thereafter distributed as provided in this chapter.

SEC. 8.

 Section 19620.1 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19620.1.
 (a) From the total revenue received by the board, including revenues transferred from the Satellite Wagering Account pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 19606.1, but excluding money received pursuant to Sections 19640 and 19641, the sum of two hundred sixty-five thousand dollars ($265,000) plus an amount equal to 63100 of 1 percent of the gross amount of money handled in the annual parimutuel pool generated within this state, or the maximum amount received by the state from the parimutuel pool of a racing meeting held in this state, whichever is less, shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Fair and Exposition Fund. If the revenues paid into the Fair and Exposition Fund under this section are in excess of thirteen million dollars ($13,000,000) in any fiscal year, one-half of the amount in excess of the thirteen million dollars ($13,000,000) shall be transferred to the General Fund. The first sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) of the funds generated from gaming activities authorized pursuant to amended tribal-state compacts, or new compacts entered into and ratified on or after January 1, 2007, pursuant to Section 4.3.1 of the amended compacts, or the comparable section in new compacts, including funds received as a result of the state’s acquisition of an ownership interest in any residual interest in compact assets attributable to that section in those compacts, that would otherwise be deposited into the General Fund, shall be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund, and shall be allocated as provided in this section and Section 19606.1, and Section 12012.6 of the Government Code. Funds generated from those sources shall not be deposited to the credit of any other agency, trust, fund, or entity, notwithstanding any future compact agreement, until a total of sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) has been deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund pursuant to this section.
(b) From the total revenue received by the board, exclusive of money received pursuant to Sections 19640 and 19641, and in addition to the funds paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Fair and Exposition Fund as specified in subdivision (a), the Legislature shall annually appropriate and the board shall deposit to the credit of the Fair and Exposition Fund, such sums as it deems necessary for the following purposes:
(1) For the support of the board, including any costs and expenses incurred by the Attorney General in the enforcement of this chapter as shall be authorized by the board, including, compensation including any fringe benefits paid to stewards and to the official veterinarian, and an amount not less than the amount expended in the 1994–95 fiscal year for the costs of laboratory testing related to horse racing pursuant to Section 19580. However, the amount appropriated for the support of the board pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed an amount equal to .052 percent of the total amount wagered on horse races at racetracks and off-track wagering facilities within the state of California in the fiscal year immediately preceding the appropriation.
(2) To the Department of Food and Agriculture for the oversight of the network of California fairs receiving money from the fund.
(3) To the Department of Food and Agriculture for the contributions, or the cost of benefits in lieu of contributions, payable to the Unemployment Fund by the network of California fairs receiving funds pursuant to this article, as a result of unemployment insurance coverage pursuant to Section 605 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
(4) To the Department of Food and Agriculture for the auditing of all district agricultural association fairs, county fairs, and citrus fruit fairs.

SEC. 9.

 Section 19621 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19621.
 (a) Not more than 5 4 percent of the Fair and Exposition Fund may be used during any fiscal year to augment the budget of the Department of Food and Agriculture to develop and administer an operational and policy framework for the network of California fairs.
(b) The Secretary of Food and Agriculture shall annually project the available revenues from this source and submit a recommendation to the Governor for the additional staff and contracts necessary to oversee the network of California fairs.
(c) The Secretary of Food and Agriculture shall prepare an annual expenditure plan for funds available from the Fair and Exposition Fund for review and approval by the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification. The Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification shall review and concur, or not concur, with the spending plan in total, and may not add to, or delete projects or line items from, the budget.
(d) Approval of the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification is deemed complete when one of the following conditions is met:
(1) The annual budget act is enacted.
(2) If the secretary’s recommendations are received by the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification after the enactment of the annual budget act, the recommendations shall be deemed approved 30 days after they are received unless they are rejected by the committee.
(e) If the Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification does not concur with the secretary’s recommendations, the secretary may submit another set of recommendations to the committee pursuant to this section.

SEC. 10.

 Section 19640 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19640.
 All money representing penalties or fines imposed by the stewards of a horse race meeting shall be collected by the licensee of the meeting and paid to the board within 10 days after its close, and the board shall deposit all such money in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fair and Exposition Fund.

SEC. 11.

 Section 19641 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

19641.
 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), any redistributable money in a parimutuel pool subject to payment to a claimant pursuant to Section 19598, but not successfully claimed within that period, shall be paid to the board, as follows:
(1) An estimated payment equal to 20 percent of the preceding year’s unclaimed redistributable money paid pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid to the board on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1, or the next business day thereafter.
(2) On May 30, or the next business day thereafter, of the year following the close of any horseracing meeting, the association shall pay to the board all of the redistributable funds that are owed it pursuant to this subdivision, less any estimated payments made pursuant to paragraph (1).
The money received by the board under this subdivision resulting from thoroughbred, harness, or quarter horse meetings, but excluding the meetings of the California Exposition and State Fair or of a county, district agricultural association, or citrus fruit fair, shall be used by the board to support research on matters pertaining to horseracing and racetrack security, but this money is subject to annual budgetary review by the Legislature. All of the redistributable money received by the board from other meetings shall be paid immediately into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fair and Exposition Fund.
(b) One-half of the redistributable money resulting from the thoroughbred, harness, or quarter horse meetings, but excluding the meetings of the California Exposition and State Fair or county, district agricultural association, or citrus fruit fair meetings, shall be distributed to a welfare fund established for the benefit of horsemen and backstretch personnel, as follows:
(1) An estimated payment equal to 20 percent of the preceding year’s unclaimed redistributable money distributed pursuant to this subdivision shall be distributed to the welfare fund on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1, or the next business day thereafter.
(2) On May 30, or the next business day thereafter, of the year following the close of any horseracing meeting, the association shall pay to the welfare fund all of the redistributable funds that are owed it pursuant to this subdivision, less any estimated payments made pursuant to paragraph (1).
The welfare fund shall make an accounting to the board within one calendar year of the receipt of the payment.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (a) or (b), any remaining redistributable money in a parimutuel pool subject to payment to a claimant pursuant to Section 19598, but not successfully claimed within the period specified in that section, shall be distributed one-half to the board, for the purposes specified and in the manner specified in subdivision (a), and one-half to the welfare fund established by the horsemen’s organization described in subdivision (b) in the manner specified in subdivision (b).

SEC. 2. SEC. 12.

 Section 12012.6 is added to the Government Code, to read:
12012.6.

(a)There is hereby created the Special Trust Fund for Economic Stabilization of Horse Racing. A portion of the funds generated from gaming activities authorized pursuant to amended tribal-state compacts, or new compacts entered into and ratified on or after January 1, 2007, that would otherwise be deposited into the General Fund pursuant to this article shall be deposited into the fund, in the following amounts:

(1)For fiscal years 2007–08 and 2008–09, an amount equal to 2 percent of the net win of the gaming devices governed by the compacts.

(2)For fiscal years 2009–10 and 2010–11, an amount equal to 4 percent of the net win of the gaming devices governed by the compacts.

(3)For fiscal year 2011–12, and for every fiscal year thereafter, an amount equal to 6 percent of the net win of the gaming devices governed by the compacts.

(b)The funds deposited in the Special Trust Fund for Economic Stabilization of Horse Racing shall be disbursed annually according to the following formula:

(1)Sixty-one hundredths of 1 percent of the funds deposited shall be disbursed to the jockey’s organization certified pursuant to Section 19612.9 for the purpose of funding health, welfare, or retirement programs for professional jockeys who ride races in California, retired jockeys who rode races in California, and their dependents.

(2)After the disbursement is made pursuant to paragraph (1), funds deposited pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall be disbursed 80 percent as purses for horse races being conducted at licensed horse racing tracks, and 20 percent as commissions to licensed horse racing tracks.

(3)After the disbursement is made pursuant to paragraph (1), funds deposited pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a) shall be disbursed 50 percent as purses for horse races conducted at licensed horse racing tracks, and 50 percent as commissions to licensed horse racing tracks.

12012.6.
 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the first sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) of the funds generated from gaming activities authorized pursuant to amended tribal-state compacts, or new compacts entered into and ratified on or after January 1, 2007, pursuant to Section 4.3.1 of the amended compacts, or the comparable section in new compacts, including funds received as a result of the state’s acquisition of an ownership interest in any residual interest in compact assets attributable to that section in those compacts, that would otherwise be deposited into the General Fund, shall be deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund, and shall be allocated as provided in Sections 19606.1 and 19620.1 of the Business and Professions Code. Funds generated from those sources shall not be deposited to the credit of any other agency, trust, fund, or entity, notwithstanding any future compact agreement, until a total of sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) has been deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund pursuant to this section.
(b) Fifty percent of the base amount deposited into the Fair and Exposition Fund in any fiscal year after the enactment of this section shall be adjusted with annual increases corresponding to the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
(c) If, in any fiscal year after the enactment of this section, the revenue derived from the sources specified in subdivision (a) is insufficient to effectuate each of the purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section, the shortfall shall be made up in the first fiscal year after enactment of this section by the General Fund, any shortfall thereafter shall be made up from license fees retained by racing associations and fairs before any provisions of Section 19616.51 of the Business and Professions Code are funded.