Racing Bills Scheduled for Hearings

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 7, 2002) -- Bills that met the deadline for passing out of the house of origin are now being scheduled for hearings in policy committees in the second house.

The following bills that are of interest to CTBA have been set for hearings.

SB 1465, Costa. This is the CTBA sponsored bill to provide more flexibility for the allocation of the Cal-bred race funds, and is scheduled to be heard in Assembly GO Committee on June 10. It is expected that it will be on consent, since there is no opposition to it. A support letter has been sent to the committee members explaining the merits of the bill.

AB 2338, Papan, dealing with the location of the San Mateo County Fair meet when Bay Meadows closes, is on the agenda for Senate GO Committee on June 11.

AB 2619, Strickland, the CTT sponsored bill to permit owner/trainers to belong to the TOC is set for hearing in Senate GO Committee on June 25. A meeting between TOC and CTT representatives is being set up by Tony Strickland to try to get the parties to try to agree on language for the bill.

AB 2931, Horton, is the bill that is supposed to be the vehicle to address the workers comp issue. It is set for hearing in Senate GO Committee on June 25, even though no agreement has been reached. The parties continue to negotiate.

On June 19, the Board of Equalization Tax committee is scheduled to consider the definition of "racehorse breeding stock" for proposed regulations to implement the legislation last year that provided a tax exemption. CTBA has worked with the Board staff and have provided input on the definition.

Other racing-related bills will be scheduled in the next several weeks and we will report on them as they are placed on committee files.