Horse racing: satellite wagering facilities: fairs: funding.

(1) The Horse Racing Law permits the California Horse Racing Board to authorize an association licensed to conduct a racing meeting to also operate a satellite wagering facility at its racetrack inclosure, under specified conditions that differ between the northern zone and the central and southern zones, and provides specific guidelines for the operation and location of these facilities. That law also authorizes fairs to contract for the operation and management of a satellite wagering facility with an individual racing association or a partnership, joint venture, or other affiliation of 2 or more racing associations that are licensed to conduct thoroughbred meetings within the northern zone. This bill would instead authorize a fair to contract for the operation and management of a satellite wagering facility with an individual racing association or a partnership, joint venture, or other affiliation of 2 or more racing associations or fairs that are licensed to conduct thoroughbred meetings or simulcast wagering within the northern zone. (2) The Horse Racing Law requires, except as specified, for a fair conducting a live racing meeting, that 1% of the total amount handled on live races, excluding wagering at a satellite facility, be retained by the fair association for payment to the state as a license fee. That law also requires any fair racing association to additionally deduct 1% from the total amount handled in its daily conventional and exotic parimutuel pools and requires that this additional amount be deposited in the Fair and Exposition Fund and, with the approval of the Department of Food and Agriculture, authorizes the expenditure of these funds for the construction or operation of recreational and cultural facilities of general public interest. This bill would provide that the additional 1% deducted from the total amount handled by any fair racing association in its daily conventional and exotic parimutuel pools may be retained by a fair conducting a live racing meeting at a fair in the northern zone or a joint powers authority designated by a fair racing association in the northern zone involved in conducting live racing meetings at fairs in the northern zone for the purposes of improving a fair enclosure, racetrack maintenance, safety at fairs, or other similar activities if 2 specified conditions are satisfied. The bill would provide that these provisions apply retroactively to January 1, 2016. By appropriating an amount of money deposited in the Fair and Exposition Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund, for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation.