AB 1974

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Horse Racing Law establishes the California Horse Racing Board within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. That law vests the board with all powers necessary and proper to enable it to carry out the Horse Racing Law and makes the board responsible for, among other things, adopting rules and regulations for the protection of the public and the control of horse racing and parimutuel wagering and administration and enforcement of all laws, rules, and regulations affecting horse racing and parimutuel wagering. This bill would add as a board responsibility the adoption of rules and regulations that protect and advance the health, safety, welfare, and aftercare of racehorses. The bill would require the board to establish and maintain a whistleblower program through which an owner, trainer, jockey, or stable-area employee may call designated persons under strict confidentiality to report questionable activity or concerns relating to the health and safety of humans or horses under the Horse Racing Law. (2) The Horse Racing Law also requires the board to adopt regulations to establish policies, guidelines, and penalties relating to equine medication in order to preserve and enhance the integrity of horse racing in the state. That law requires that those policies, guidelines, and penalties include, at a minimum, provisions that prohibit, among other things, a substance of any kind from being administered by any means to a horse after it has been entered to race in a horse race, unless the board has, by regulation, specifically authorized the use of the substance and its quantity and composition. That law provides that violations of this provision, as determined by the board, are punishable as set forth in regulations adopted by the board. A violation of the Horse Racing Law is a crime. This bill would prohibit a trainer from administering, directly or indirectly, or otherwise permitting to be administered, any medication to a horse under the trainer's care that is racing or training at a board-approved racetrack, unless the medication is prescribed for that specific horse and administered strictly in accordance with board regulations. The bill would prohibit a trainer from applying to a horse's feet on racing day any type of topical medication designed to alleviate pain, soreness, or tenderness of a horse's feet. (3) The Horse Racing Law requires every veterinarian who treats a horse within the inclosure to report, in writing, on a form prescribed by the board, to the official veterinarian in a manner prescribed by the official veterinarian, the name of the horse treated, the name of the trainer of the horse, the time of treatment, any medication administered to the horse, and any other information requested by the official veterinarian. Existing regulations of the board require that horses that are injured, unsound, or lame are subject to immediate placement on the Veterinarian's List with criteria for removal that may include diagnostic imaging, examination of blood, and counsel with attending veterinarians and that such a horse is prohibited from working out for 72 hours after being placed on the list without the permission of the official veterinarian. The regulations require the official veterinarian to require any horse placed on the list to undergo a veterinary examination before resuming training at any facility under the jurisdiction of the board. The regulations establish conditions for removal of a horse from the list and provide that a horse determined to be unsound or lame for the first, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time in a 365-day period is ineligible to be removed from the list for a specified period of time. This bill would codify with certain modifications these regulations as to horses determined to be unsound or lame and would authorize the board to adopt rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of these provisions. The bill would also prohibit a thoroughbred or quarter horse that is 4 years of age or older that has not competed in a race or has previously raced but has not raced in the preceding 365 days from racing, unless the horse has passed an examination and a postwork official blood test or tests required by the official veterinarian or the equine medical director, administered by the official veterinarian or the equine medical director's designee. The bill would require the horse to race within 30 days of meeting these requirements. The bill would also require a thoroughbred or quarter horse that has not raced within 120 days but has raced within 365 days to have an examination performed by the official veterinarian or the equine medical director's designee within 14 days before entry, and based upon that examination, the bill would authorize the official veterinarian or the equine medical director's designee to require the horse to work before being allowed to enter in a race, as specified. The bill would require that all horses at a licensed thoroughbred, fair, or quarter horse race meet be subject to veterinary monitoring during morning training, as specified, and would require the use of diagnostic imaging as an accepted component of prerace examinations by an examining veterinarian, as specified. The bill would also require a racing association to provide a location within the inclosure where a horse can be observed jogging in a circle in both directions by the official veterinarian or the equine medical director's designee, if needed, as part of the prerace examination process. The bill would authorize, at the discretion of track stewards, the video surveillance of horses that ship in on racing days for purposes of monitoring compliance with the Horse Racing Law. (4) Existing law establishes the Fair and Exposition Fund for the purpose of allocating moneys to provide financial support for the network of California fairs. The Horse Racing Law provides that any unallocated balance from the total revenue received by the Department of Food and Agriculture pursuant to that law, except as specified, is hereby appropriated without regard to fiscal years for allocation by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for capital outlay to California fairs for, among other things, fair projects involving public health and safety and projects that are required to protect fair property. That law also provides that a portion of these funds may be allocated to California fairs for general operational support. This bill would create the Horse and Jockey Safety and Welfare Account in the State Treasury. The bill would, notwithstanding the above provisions, require that moneys from specified license fees imposed pursuant to the Horse Racing Law be deposited in that account and be continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years for allocation by the Department of Finance to the board for equine safety measures to improve the integrity and safety of horse racing that include, among other things, contracting for additional state veterinarians, stewards, and infrastructure support related to the safety and welfare of racehorses and jockeys. Because the bill would create the Horse and Jockey Safety and Welfare Account, a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (5) Existing law requires all money representing penalties or fines imposed by the stewards of a horse race meeting to be collected by the licensee of the meeting and paid to the board, as specified, for deposit in the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund. This bill would instead require that all penalty or fine moneys under this provision be deposited by the board in the Horse and Jockey Safety and Welfare Account. The bill would continuously appropriate these moneys, without regard to fiscal years, for allocation by the Department of Finance to the board for horse welfare and safety measures, as described. The bill would require the board to publicly disclose on its internet website the horse welfare and safety measures it funds with these moneys. Because these moneys would be continuously appropriated to the board for specific purposes, this bill would make an appropriation. (6) By imposing new requirements under the Horse Racing Law, a violation of which would be a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (7) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.