AB 1508

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The Horse Racing Law authorizes advance deposit wagering to be conducted, with the approval of the California Horse Racing Board. That law requires the board to develop and adopt rules to license and regulate all phases of operation of advance deposit wagering for advance deposit wagering providers operating in California and authorizes a racing association, a fair, a satellite wagering facility, or a minisatellite wagering facility to enter into an agreement with an advance deposit wagering provider to accept and facilitate the placement of any wager at its facility that a California resident could make through that advance deposit wagering provider. The Horse Racing Law also authorizes every association that conducts a racing meeting to elect permanently to deduct an additional amount up to 0.33 of 1% from the total parimutuel wagers placed within its inclosure and any association that conducts a racing meeting or any fair that operates a satellite wagering facility to elect to deduct an additional amount of 0.33 of 1% from the total parimutuel wagers placed within its inclosure or at its satellite wagering facility. That law provides that the amounts deducted pursuant to these provisions be retained by the association or fair for the payment of possessory interest taxes, if any, assessed against the organization that operates the audiovisual signal system, the racing association, or fair, and after payment of these taxes be distributed to the city, or to the city or county, in which the racing meeting or wagering is conducted. This bill would require the California Horse Racing Board to review the payments made to a city pursuant to the above-described provisions to ensure that the additional amounts paid to a city based on 0.33 of 1 percent from the total parimutuel wagers and 0.33 of the 1 percent of the total amount handled by each satellite wagering facility include the total amount that was waged by advance deposit wagers at the racetrack. The bill would require the board to determine whether the total amount paid to a city included compensation from advance deposit wagers. The bill would also require the board to release its findings at a publicly noticed hearing and make its findings available to the public on its Internet Web site.