AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2026
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
97
Introduced by Committee on Governmental Organization (Assembly Members Blanca Rubio (Chair), Davies (Vice Chair), Alvarez, Berman, Bryan, Carrillo, Dixon, Fong, Gipson, McKinnor, Nguyen, Pacheco, Michelle Rodriguez, Solache, Soria, Ta, Valencia, and Wallis)
March 18, 2025
An act to amend Sections 19440.5 and 19605.25 of 19440.5, 19480, 19488, and 19605.25 of, and to repeal Sections 19490, 19493, and 19547 of, the Business and Professions Code, relating to horse racing.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: yes Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law requires an annual audit of the financial books and records of the horsemen’s organizations, with respect to pension funds received by the organizations pursuant to specified laws, to be conducted by a nationally recognized accounting firm within 90 days of the close of the fund’s business year.
This bill would eliminate the 90-day time limit on conducting the annual audit and would authorize the California Horse Racing Board to permit exceptions to the audit requirement.
The Horse Racing Law requires each application for a license to conduct a horse racing meeting to be accompanied by a deposit to secure the payment of any license fee imposed pursuant to specified provisions of that law, in the form of a certified check payable to the Treasurer of the State of California, in the amount of $10,000. Under the Horse Racing Law, a person engaged in the conduct of a recognized horse race meeting is required to pay a separate license fee imposed under other provisions of the Horse Racing Law in lieu of the license fee subject to that deposit requirement.
This bill would eliminate this deposit requirement and would make other conforming changes.
Existing law authorizes the board to approve minisatellite wagering sites, as defined, under specified conditions. Existing law requires an organization formed by associations or fairs to operate the audiovisual signal system to execute a specified agreement with the association conducting a racing meeting and the minisatellite wagering facility that specifies, among other things, the components of its racing program, including live, out-of-zone, out-of-state, and out-of-country races, that an association or fair will make available to the site.
This bill would explicitly require the agreement to specify which live in-state races would be provided by the association or fair to the site. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes, including deleting obsolete language.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 19440.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
19440.5.
An annual audit shall be conducted of the financial books and records of the horsemen’s organizations, including any subsidiaries of the horsemen’s organizations, by a nationally recognized accounting firm as follows:
(a) Except with the permission of the board, with respect to pension funds received by those organizations pursuant to Sections 19533, 19613, and 19613.1, the audit shall be conducted annually. The audit shall cover the period of time since the last audit, and a copy of the audit shall be filed with the board and the Senate and Assembly Committees on Governmental Organization.
(b) With respect to administrative funds and welfare funds received pursuant to Sections 19533, 19606.5, 19613, and 19641, the audit shall be conducted within 90 days of the close of the fund’s business year. The audit shall cover the period of time since the last audit, and a copy of the audit shall be filed with the board and the Senate and Assembly Committees on Governmental Organization.
(c) The horsemen’s organizations shall bear the cost of the audit.
SEC. 2.
Section 19480 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
19480.
(a) The board may issue to any person who makes application therefor in writing, and who has complied with this chapter, and who makes the deposit to secure payment of the license fee imposed by this article, a license to conduct a horse racing meeting in accordance with this chapter at the track specified in the application if the board determines that the issuance thereof will be in the public interest and will subserve the purposes of this chapter.
(b) For purposes of this section, “person” means any officer, director, or partner, or any individual who holds 5 percent or more of outstanding shares, of a racing association.
SEC. 3.
Section 19488 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
19488.
(a)Every license issued under this article shall specify all of the following:
(a) The name of the person to whom it is issued.
(b) The track where the horse racing meeting to which it relates is to be held or conducted.
(c) The days and hours of the day when the meeting will be permitted.
(d) The number and types of races to be run on each day of the meeting.
(e) The number of useable stalls available for the meeting.
(f) The name of the person responsible for supervising the maintenance of racetrack safety standards.
SEC. 4.
Section 19490 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
Each application for a license to conduct a horse racing meeting shall be accompanied by a deposit to secure the payment of any license fee imposed by this article, in the form of a certified check payable to the Treasurer of the State of California, in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
SEC. 5.
Section 19493 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
Upon the termination of the horse racing meeting for which a license has been granted:
(a) If the licensee has fully paid the license fee imposed by this article, the sum deposited with the application for the license shall be returned to the licensee.
(b) If the licensee fails, refuses, or neglects to pay such fee, the amount thereof shall be deducted from the sum deposited and the balance, if any, shall be returned to the licensee.
SEC. 6.
Section 19547 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed.
Notwithstanding Section 19490, no deposit shall be required for any horse racing meeting conducted by a fair.
SEC. 2.SEC. 7.
Section 19605.25 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
19605.25.
(a) The board may approve an additional 15 minisatellite wagering sites in each zone, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) No site is within 20 miles of a racetrack, a satellite wagering facility, or a tribal casino that has a satellite wagering facility. If the proposed minisatellite wagering facility is within 20 miles of one of the above-referenced satellite facilities, then the consent of each facility within a 20-mile radius must be given before the proposed minisatellite wagering facility may be approved by the board.
(2) An agreement in accordance with subdivision (a) of Section 19605.3 has been executed and approved by the board. In addition to the requirements set forth in that provision, the agreement shall specify which components of its racing program, including live in-state, out-of-zone, out-of-state, and out-of-country races, an association or fair will make available to the site. The terms and conditions of the agreement, including all fees payable pursuant to paragraph (3) of that provision, a portion of which may be paid to horsemen and horsewomen in the form of purses, shall be subject to the approval of the horsemen’s and horsewomen’s organization responsible for negotiating purse agreements with the association or fair.
(3) The site is approved by the board.
(4) The wagers are accepted in an area that is accessible only to persons who are at least 21 years of age.
(5) The board has approved the accommodation, equipment used in conducting wagering at the site, communications system, technology, and method used by the site to accept wagers and transmit odds, results, and other data related to wagering.
(b) Parimutuel clerks shall be available to service the self-service tote machines at minisatellite wagering locations, and to cash wagering vouchers on a regularly scheduled basis.
(c) For purposes of commissions, deductions, and distribution of handle, wagers placed at minisatellite wagering sites shall be treated as if they were placed at satellite wagering facilities authorized under Section 19605, 19605.1, or 19605.2. Section 19608.4 shall apply to minisatellite wagering facilities.
(d) The written consent of the San Mateo County Fair shall be obtained before the approval of any minisatellite wagering site located within a 20-mile radius of its fairground.
(e) Minisatellite wagering facilities created pursuant to this section are not eligible for satellite wagering commission distributions pursuant to Section 19604.
(f) The board, in adopting regulations to implement this section, shall minimize the expense to both the operator of the minisatellite wagering facility and the host racetrack.
(g) If there are more than 15 applications for minisatellite wagering facilities in any zone, the board shall determine which facilities will generate the largest handle, and give priority to the approval of those facilities. The board shall license a minisatellite wagering facility for up to five years, and then review the operation and the size of the handle, and determine if it is in the best interest of horse racing to relicense the facility or, in the alternative, license another minisatellite wagering facility that might generate a greater handle.
(h) Except as may be provided in the agreement required pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), no association or fair shall be required to make all or part of its racing program available to a minisatellite wagering facility. Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 19608.2, all costs incurred by the organization executing that agreement in excess of the amounts distributable to the organization from wagers placed at the site on that racing program, shall be borne by the minisatellite wagering facility.