Brief⁽¹⁾

The bill would make several amendments to the Parimutuel Racing Act. Specifically, the bill would:

• �Authorize the Assistant Attorneys General assigned to the Racing and Gaming Commission to assist with enforcement of the Tribal Gaming Oversight Act and any other gaming statutes the Commission may be required to enforce in addition to the Racing Act.

• Current law authorizes the Attorney General to appoint a maximum of two Assistant Attorneys General to work on parimutuel racing matters for the Racing and Gaming Commission.

• �Authorize reimbursement of the Racing Fund from the Tribal Gaming Fund for costs of salaries and travel of Assistant Attorneys General working on tribal gaming matters.

• �Apply to the Executive Director of the Racing and Gaming Commission the same five-year limitation on involvement in racing or having a financial interest in certain licensees, wagering, and accepting gifts from any licensee, as currently applies to members of the Commission. The Executive Director and Commissioners would be subject to the same penalty for violation.

• The penalty for violation of that section is a maximum of one year in jail, or a $2,500 fine, or both.

• �Make discretionary rather than mandatory disqualification of racing animals that violate the Commission's drug rules.



• �Provide that initial or summary orders suspending occupation licenses and imposing fines would be effective immediately.

• Under current law, any suspension or imposition of fine is subject to the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act (KAPA) which provides for review of hearing officers' orders and delayed effective dates of orders in some circumstances. Proceedings for suspension or revocation of occupation licenses would continue to be subject to all other provisions of KAPA.

• �Provide for allocation of a portion of the unclaimed winnings at dog tracks that are closed for 60 days or more. Under the new procedure, 50 percent of unclaimed winnings that would otherwise be used to supplement stakes races at that track would be allocated equally to each of the Kansas-whelped greyhounds at the track on the last day of racing. The Commission would compile the roster of dogs eligible for the allocation. Funds allocated to each dog would be evenly split between the dog's owner and the owner of the kennel in which the dog resided at the track.

• �Allow licensed stewards and racing judges and certain of their relatives to be licensed by the Commission or to enter into business dealings with a track owner or track lessee as long as the steward or judge and the relative are not employed by or doing business with the same track.

• Under current law members, appointees, and employees (except racing judges and stewards) of the Commission and certain of their relatives cannot be licensed by the Commission. In addition, those same persons cannot enter into a business relationship with an owner or lessee of a track in Kansas. The relatives to which the statute applies include the spouse, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandchild, uncle, aunt, parent-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

• �Require that purse money generated from simulcast horse races at a dog track be allocated by the Commission to horse race meets based on the number of live race days held by each meet during the preceding calendar year.

The bill would become effective upon publication in the Kansas Register.

Background

The bill was introduced during the 1997 Session at the request of the Racing and Gaming Commission. The Executive Director of the Commission presented testimony in support of the bill at the hearing before the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs. No opponents of the bill testified at that Committee hearing.

The House Committee amended the bill to include the provision regarding licensure and business dealings of stewards or racing judges and their relatives. Other House Committee amendments are technical in nature.

The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill to retain existing law regarding the number of Assistant Attorneys General assigned to the Racing and Gaming Commission. The House also amended the bill to eliminate a provision that would have changed the financing of the attorney positions working on nontribal matters. The effect of the House Committee of the Whole amendment would be to continue the existing policy of financing those positions from the State Racing Fund.

The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs amended the bill to eliminate proposed changes to the way takeout from simulcast races is handled.

The Senate amended the bill to specify the basis for allocation of purse money generated from simulcast horse races at dog tracks.

The Division of the Budget fiscal note based on the introduced version of the bill states that the bill would have negligible fiscal impact on the Racing and Gaming Commission. The fiscal note does not address any impact that might result from subsequent amendments.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.