By: Flores (Senate Sponsor - Lucio) H.B. No. 2701
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 14, 2007;
  May 15, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on State
  Affairs; May 18, 2007, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 18, 2007, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the regulation of horse and dog racing.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1.03, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subdivisions
  (36) and (53) and adding Subdivision (79) to read as follows:
               (36)  "Trainer" means a person who is licensed by the
  commission to train racehorses or greyhounds.
               (53)  "Judge" means a racing official with general
  authority and supervision over:
                     (A)  the conduct of a licensed race meeting; and
                     (B)  all licensees at a racetrack during a race
  meeting [an executive official of a greyhound racetrack].
               (79)  "Executive director" means the executive
  secretary of the Texas Racing Commission.
         SECTION 2.  Section 2.12, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection
  (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  The commission and the executive secretary may use the
  title "executive director" for any purpose in referring to the
  office of executive secretary.
         SECTION 3.  Section 3.07(e), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (e)  To pay the charges associated with the medication or
  drug testing, an association may use the money held by the
  association to pay outstanding tickets and pari-mutuel vouchers.
  If additional amounts are needed to pay the charges, the
  association shall pay those additional amounts. [If the amount
  held exceeds the amount needed to pay the charges, the association
  shall pay the excess to the commission in accordance with Section
  11.08 of this Act.]
         SECTION 4.  Section 3.16(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The commission [may require prerace testing and] shall
  require [postrace] testing to determine whether a prohibited
  substance has been used.  The testing may be prerace or postrace as
  determined by the commission. The testing may be by an invasive or
  noninvasive method. The commission's rules shall require
  state-of-the-art testing methods.
         SECTION 5.  Section 5.01, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (d)
  to read as follows:
         (d)  The commission by rule shall set fees in amounts
  reasonable and necessary to cover the commission's costs of
  regulating, overseeing, and licensing live and simulcast racing at
  racetracks.
         SECTION 6.  Section 5.03(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  If a complete set of fingerprints is required by the
  commission, the commission shall, not later than the 10th business
  [next] day after the date the commission receives [receiving] the
  prints, forward the prints to the Department of Public Safety or the
  Federal Bureau of Investigation.  If the prints are forwarded to the
  Department of Public Safety, the department shall classify the
  prints and check them against its fingerprint files and shall
  report to the commission its findings concerning the criminal
  record of the applicant or the lack of such a record.  A racetrack
  license may not be issued until the report is made to the
  commission.  A temporary occupational license may be issued before
  a report is made to the commission.
         SECTION 7.  Section 6.09(c), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  On each racing day, the association shall pay[:
               [(1)]  the fee due the state to the comptroller[; and
               [(2)     the 50 percent of the breakage due the state to
  the commission].
         SECTION 8.  Section 6.091(a), Texas Racing Act (Article
  179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
  follows:
         (a)  An association shall distribute from the total amount
  deducted as provided by Sections 6.08(a) and 6.09(a) of this Act
  from each simulcast pari-mutuel pool and each simulcast
  cross-species pool the following shares:
               (1)  [(A) until January 1, 1999, an amount equal to 0.25
  percent of each simulcast pari-mutuel pool and each simulcast
  cross-species simulcast pool as the amount set aside to reimburse
  the general revenue fund for amounts that are appropriated for the
  administration and enforcement of this Act and that are in excess of
  the cumulative amount of funds deposited in the Texas Racing
  Commission fund, until the excess amount and interest on the excess
  amount are fully reimbursed;
                     [(B)]  an amount equal to one percent of each
  simulcast pool as the amount set aside for the state; [and]
               (2) [(C)]  an amount equal to 1.25 percent of each
  simulcast cross-species [simulcast] pool as the amount set aside
  for the state;
               [(2)     an amount equal to 0.25 percent of each pool set
  aside to reimburse the general revenue fund for amounts that are
  appropriated for the administration and enforcement of this Act and
  that are in excess of the cumulative amount of funds deposited in
  the Texas Racing Commission fund, until the excess amount and
  interest on the excess amount are fully reimbursed;]
               (3)  if the association is a horse racing association,
  an amount equal to one percent of a multiple two wagering pool or
  multiple three wagering pool as the amount set aside for the
  Texas-bred program to be used as provided by Section 6.08(f) of this
  Act;
               (4)  if the association is a greyhound association, an
  amount equal to one percent of a multiple two wagering pool or a
  multiple three wagering pool as the amount set aside for the
  Texas-bred program for greyhound races, to be distributed and used
  in accordance with rules of the commission adopted to promote
  greyhound breeding in this state; and
               (5)  the remainder as the amount set aside for purses,
  expenses, the sending association, and the receiving location
  pursuant to a contract approved by the commission between the
  sending association and the receiving location.
         SECTION 9.  Section 6.13(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Each transaction that involves an acquisition or a
  transfer of a pecuniary interest in the association must receive
  prior approval from the commission. A transaction that changes the
  ownership of the association requires submission of updated
  information of the type required to be disclosed under Subsection
  (a) of Section 6.03 of this Act and payment of a fee to recover the
  costs of the criminal background check.
         SECTION 10.  Section 6.16(a), Texas Racing Act (Article
  179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
  follows:
         (a)  An association may not employ any person who has been a
  member of the commission, the executive secretary of the
  commission, or an employee employed by the commission in a position
  in the state employment classification plan of grade 12 or above, or
  any person related within the second degree by affinity or the third
  degree by consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
  Government Code [Article 5996h, Revised Statutes], to such a member
  or employee, during the one-year [two-year] period immediately
  preceding the employment by the association.
         SECTION 11.  Section 11.07, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection
  (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  A person who claims to be entitled to any part of a
  distribution from a pari-mutuel pool [and who fails to claim the
  money due the person before the completion of the race meeting at
  which the pool was formed] may, not later than the first anniversary
  of the [60th] day the ticket was purchased [after the closing day of
  the meeting], file with the association a claim for the money
  together with a substantial portion of the pari-mutuel ticket
  sufficient to identify the association, race, and horse or
  greyhound involved and sufficient to show the amount wagered and
  the type of ticket.
         (a-1)  A person who claims to be entitled to money from a
  pari-mutuel voucher may before the first anniversary of the day the
  voucher was issued file with the association a claim for the money
  together with a substantial portion of the pari-mutuel voucher
  sufficient to identify the association, the serial number, the date
  issued, and the amount of the voucher.
         SECTION 12.  Sections 6.19 and 11.08, Texas Racing Act
  (Article 179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
         SECTION 13.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
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