1998 Legislation
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SENATE BILL NO. 1506 – Horse racing, simulcast, cnty appvl

SENATE BILL NO. 1506

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S1506......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
HORSE RACING - SIMULCAST - Amends existing law relating to horse racing to
provide for pari-mutuel betting by patrons on the result of simulcast
and/or televised races in a facility not located on the grounds of a live
horse race meet facility, to require approval of the board of county
commissioners, to impose a limit of one such facility per county, to
provide for leasing of licenses, to provide for written applications, to
provide restrictions, to provide for payments of moneys for deposit into
the Live Horse Race Distribution Fund, to create the Live Horse Race
Distribution Fund, to provide for payments from the fund and to provide for
a payment to the Idaho Horse Board.

02/19    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/20    Rpt prt - to St Aff

Bill Text


S1506


                                                                        
 ||||              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ||||
Fifty-fourth Legislature                 Second Regular Session - 1998
                                                                        

                                      IN THE SENATE

                                   SENATE BILL NO. 1506

                                BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 1                                        AN ACT
 2    RELATING TO HORSE RACING; AMENDING SECTION 54-2512, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR
 3        PARI-MUTUEL BETTING BY PATRONS ON THE RESULT OF SIMULCAST AND/OR TELEVISED
 4        RACES IN A FACILITY NOT LOCATED ON THE GROUNDS OF A LIVE HORSE  RACE  MEET
 5        FACILITY,  TO  REQUIRE  APPROVAL  OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, TO
 6        IMPOSE A LIMIT OF ONE SUCH FACILITY PER COUNTY, TO PROVIDE FOR LEASING  OF
 7        LICENSES, TO PROVIDE FOR WRITTEN APPLICATIONS, TO PROVIDE RESTRICTIONS, TO
 8        PROVIDE  FOR  PAYMENTS OF MONEYS FOR DEPOSIT INTO THE LIVE HORSE RACE DIS-
 9        TRIBUTION FUND, TO CREATE THE LIVE HORSE RACE DISTRIBUTION FUND,  TO  PRO-
10        VIDE  FOR PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND AND TO PROVIDE FOR A PAYMENT TO THE IDAHO
11        HORSE BOARD.

12    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:

13        SECTION 1.  That Section 54-2512, Idaho Code, be, and the same  is  hereby
14    amended to read as follows:

15        54-2512.  PARI-MUTUEL  BETTING  -- OTHER BETTING ILLEGAL. (1) Any licensee
16    conducting a race meet under this act may provide a place  or  places  in  the
17    race  meet  grounds or enclosure at which such licensee may conduct and super-
18    vise the use of the pari-mutuel system by patrons on the result of  the  races
19    conducted  by such licensee at such race meet and, upon written application by
20    a licensee and approval by the commission, on the result of  simulcast  and/or
21    televised  races.  The  commission shall issue no more than one (1) license to
22    simulcast per live race meet licensee and there shall be no more  simulcasting
23    sites in the state than there are licensed live race meet sites.
24        (2)  (a) Licenses  authorizing  simulcast  and/or  televised races will be
25        regulated by the commission, in addition to  its  other  responsibilities,
26        for  the  purpose  of  enhancing,  promoting, and protecting the live race
27        industry in the state of Idaho. No license authorizing simulcasting and/or
28        televised races shall be issued to or renewed for  persons  that  are  not
29        also  licensed  to  conduct live race meets in the state of Idaho. Persons
30        applying for a simulcast and/or televised race license shall have annually
31        conducted live race meets in the state of Idaho during the  preceding  two
32        (2)  calendar years, and have an agreement reached voluntarily or pursuant
33        to binding arbitration in conformance with chapter 9, title 7, Idaho Code,
34        with a horsemen's group as the term "horsemen's group" is defined in  sec-
35        tion  54-2502, Idaho Code. The agreement shall address, but not be limited
36        to, number of live race days and percentage of the live race and simulcast
37        handle that is dedicated to the live horse race purse structure. Race days
38        agreed upon shall be submitted to the  Idaho  racing  commission  for  its
39        approval.
40        (b)  In addition to the restrictions recited in paragraph (a) of this sub-
41        section,  live  horse  race  licensees that have had an average daily live
42        race handle of more than sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) during the  last
43        calendar   year   in  operation  shall  not  have  a  license  authorizing


                                          2

 1        simulcasting and/or televised races issued or renewed if the licensee  has
 2        not  run in the calendar year immediately preceding the year for which the
 3        application for a license is being made for at least ninety percent  (90%)
 4        of the number of live races that were conducted by that licensee in 1989.
 5        (c)  The commission may issue a license authorizing simulcast and/or tele-
 6        vised  races  to  a  live horse race licensee only after that licensee has
 7        conducted at that facility  a minimum of forty (40) live  horse  races  in
 8        each  of  the  two  (2)  calendar years preceding the application for such
 9        license. The requirements of this paragraph are only  applicable  to  live
10        horse  race  licensees  who  have  received  their initial live horse race
11        license after April 1, 1997.
12        (3)   Upon written application by a  live  horse  race  licensee  and
13    approval  by  the commission, a license may be issued to conduct and supervise
14    the use of the pari-mutuel system by patrons on the result of simulcast and/or
15    televised races in a facility not located on the grounds of a live horse  race
16    meet facility, but within the county that the live horse race meet facility is
17    located, subject to the following restrictions:
18        (a)  Approval  must  be obtained from the board of county commissioners of
19        the county in which the simulcast and/or televised race facility is to  be
20        located; and
21        (b)  No more than one (1) such facility per county shall be allowed; and
22        (c)  A  license to conduct and supervise the use of the pari-mutuel system
23        by patrons on the result of simulcast and/or televised races issued  under
24        this  section  may be leased to another person or entity but only with the
25        approval of the Idaho racing commission. A lessee of such license shall be
26        held by the commission to the same standards as the original licensee.
27        (4)  Upon written application by a live horse race licensee  and  approval
28    by the commission, a license may be issued to conduct and supervise the use of
29    the  pari-mutuel system by patrons on the result of simulcast and/or televised
30    races in a facility located in another county within the state other than  the
31    county where the licensee's live race track facility is located subject to the
32    following restrictions:
33        (a)  In  addition  to  the  distribution  and  payment  of  the  handle as
34        described in section 54-2513, Idaho Code, a  licensee  operating  under  a
35        license  described  in  this  subsection  shall  pay to the commission for
36        deposit in the live horse race purse distribution fund, a minimum of  one-
37        half  of  one  percent  (.5%)  of  the gross daily receipts from simulcast
38        and/or televised races. The commission shall distribute  the  moneys  from
39        the  live  horse  race  purse  distribution  fund to those live horse race
40        licensees that had an average daily live race handle of  less  than  sixty
41        thousand dollars ($60,000) during the preceding calendar year. The distri-
42        bution shall be made by dividing the total number of live race days of all
43        of the qualified live horse race tracks combined into the moneys collected
44        by  the fund in any one (1) calendar year and by multiplying the result by
45        the number of days run by each of the respective live  horse  race  tracks
46        individually.  No race track licensee, however, shall be entitled to use a
47        multiplier greater than fifteen (15) days  for  the  distribution  of  the
48        first sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) in the fund. Any moneys in the fund
49        in  excess of the first sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) shall be distrib-
50        uted based on the actual number of race days run  by  the  qualified  live
51        horse  race  licensees.  These moneys shall be used by the live horse race
52        track licensee solely for live horse race meet purses; and
53        (b)  Additionally, the licensee shall pay to the commission for deposit in
54        the live horse race purse distribution fund a minimum of one-half  of  one
55        percent  (.5%) of the gross daily receipts from simulcast and/or televised


                                          3

 1        races conducted pursuant to the license. The commission  shall  distribute
 2        the  moneys from the live horse race purse distribution fund to the licen-
 3        see whose license is being utilized to conduct simulcast and/or  televised
 4        races  pursuant  to  this  subsection.  These  moneys shall be used by the
 5        licensee solely for live horse race meet purses; and
 6        (c)  Approval must be obtained from the county commissioners of the county
 7        in which the facility is to be located; and
 8        (d)  No more than one (1) such facility per county shall be allowed; and
 9        (e)  A license to conduct and supervise the use of the pari-mutuel  system
10        by  patrons on the result of simulcast and/or televised races issued under
11        this section may be leased to another person or entity but only  with  the
12        approval of the Idaho racing commission. A lessee of such license shall be
13        held by the commission to the same standards as the original licensee.
14        (5)  There  is  hereby  created  the live horse race distribution fund, to
15    which shall be deposited moneys received by the commission  for  the  purposes
16    described  in  this section. All moneys in the live horse race purse distribu-
17    tion fund are hereby perpetually appropriated to the commission for payment as
18    required in this section. Payments by the commission from the live horse  race
19    purse  distribution fund to the recipient live horse race tracks shall be made
20    no later than thirty (30) days after Idaho state racing commission approval of
21    live race meet license application for the forthcoming calendar year.
22        (6)  Once a total handle exceeding fourteen million dollars  ($14,000,000)
23    is  realized  from  simulcasting  and/or televised races conducted pursuant to
24    subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the  Idaho  racing  commission  shall
25    submit  to  the  Idaho  horse  board  a  sum  of  twenty-five thousand dollars
26    ($25,000) to be used by the Idaho horse board for youth programs. The  commis-
27    sion  shall  obtain  these  funds  from  the  excess free fund cash balance as
28    described in section 54-2513(F). 
29         (7)   Such pari-mutuel system  conducted  at  such  race  meet
30    shall  not  under any circumstances, if conducted under the provisions of this
31    act and in conformity thereto and to the rules of the commission, be  held  or
32    construed  to  be  unlawful, other statutes of this state to the contrary not-
33    withstanding.
34        ( 4  8 )  The participation  by  a  licensee  in  an
35    interstate  combined  wagering pool does not cause that licensee to be consid-
36    ered to be doing business in any jurisdiction other than the  jurisdiction  in
37    which the licensee is physically located.
38        (  5   9 )  Pari-mutuel taxes or commissions may not
39    be imposed on any amounts wagered in  an  interstate  combined  wagering  pool
40    other than amounts wagered within this jurisdiction.
41        ( 6  10 ) It shall be unlawful to conduct pool sell-
42    ing,  book  making, or to circulate handbooks, or to bet or wager on a race of
43    any licensed race meet, other than by the pari-mutuel  system;  and  it  shall
44    further  be unlawful knowingly to permit any minor to use the pari-mutuel sys-
45    tem.
46         (11) The license to conduct and supervise the use of the pari-mutuel
47    system by patrons on the result of  simulcast  and/or  televised  races  shall
48    expire at 12:00 midnight, December 31, of the year issued. 

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


    





                             STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                                  RS07862C1
                                       
    
    The purpose of this proposed legislation is to allow the simulcast licenses associated with 
    Idaho's nine live horse race tracks to leave the track, thus allowing a simulcast facility to be 
    operated at a site other than the live horse race track. If the simulcast license associated with a 
    particular live horse race track is operated in a county other than the county where the live horse 
    race track is located, a one percent "surcharge" is implemented with these proceeds dedicated to 
    Idaho's live horse race purse structure. The movement off-track of these simulcast licenses are 
    restricted in that (1 ) approval must be obtained from the county commissioners of the county in 
    which the simulcast facility is to be located; (2) no more than one (1) such facility per county 
    shall be allowed; and (3) if the
    
    simulcast license is leased by the live horse race license to another individual or entity, the
    
    Idaho Racing Commission must first give its approval. Once a total handle of fourteen million 
    dollars ($14,000,000) is realized from these licenses, a sum of $25,000 shall be transferred 
    from the Idaho Racing Commission's free fund balance to the Idaho Horse Board to be used for 
    youth development programs.
    
    FISCAL IMPACT
    
    No fiscal impact.
    
    CONTACT
    Name: Stan Boyd
    
                                                 Idaho Horse Racing Alliance
             Phone:                              344-2271  S 1506