HB 923 – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
08/01
HOUSE BILL 923
AN ACT prohibiting dog racing in New Hampshire and establishing a committee to make recommendations for mitigating the impacts of prohibiting dog racing.
SPONSORS: Rep. Schmidt, Straf 4; Rep. Splaine, Rock 16; Rep. Cooney, Graf 7; Rep. Crane, Hills 21; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill prohibits dog racing in New Hampshire and establishes a committee to make recommendations for mitigating the impacts of prohibiting dog racing.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-0913
08/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT prohibiting dog racing in New Hampshire and establishing a committee to make recommendations for mitigating the impacts of prohibiting dog racing.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Greyhound Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 98-A:1, III to read as follows:
III. “The equivalent of 6 months or more” shall mean the equivalent of 130 or more regularly scheduled work days, not necessarily consecutive, provided that whenever an employee of the racing commission [or greyhound racing commission] is employed on any day on a per diem basis he shall be deemed to have worked one day.
2 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 162-I:2, IX-b(a) to read as follows:
(a) Sports, assembly, arena or exposition purposes, whether or not now in existence, including, but not limited to, spectator or participation recreation or sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, horse racing, [dog racing,] tennis or other recreational or sports purposes; or
3 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend the chapter heading of RSA 273-C to read as follows:
[DOG AND] HORSE RACING EMPLOYEES
4 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 273-C:2, IV to read as follows:
IV. “Employer” means an employing unit which is engaged in [dog or] horse racing[, or both,] and is licensed to operate a race track under RSA 284 and which, in the current calendar year, has or had employees.
5 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend the chapter heading of RSA 284 to read as follows:
HORSE [AND DOG] RACING
6 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:1 to read as follows:
284:1 Limitation. No part of this chapter shall be construed to apply to any racing whatever except running or harness horse races [or dog races].
7 Greyhound Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:6-a, II to read as follows:
II. The pari-mutuel commission shall assume the powers, rights, duties and responsibilities granted the state racing commission [and the state greyhound racing commission] under RSA 284, and any reference to the state racing commission [or the state greyhound racing commission] in RSA 284 or other RSA cites shall be deemed to refer to the New Hampshire pari-mutuel commission. The New Hampshire pari-mutuel commission shall, in carrying out the purpose of this chapter, use the applicable provisions for horse racing [independent of the applicable provisions for dog racing].
8 Greyhound Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:12, III to read as follows:
III. The operation of race tracks on which running or harness horse [or dog] races or meets are held.
9 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:12-a to read as follows:
I. No person, association, corporation, or any other type of entity shall hold any running or harness horse [or dog] race or meet at which pari-mutuel pools are sold without a license from the commission.
II. Investigation fees shall be collected by the commission and shall be continually appropriated to the commission and used by the commission to offset the costs of conducting background checks and monitoring of license applicants and licensees as required under this section, RSA 284:16, [RSA 284:16-a, RSA 284:18-a,] RSA 284:19, and RSA 284:20[, and RSA 284:20-b]. Funds received hereunder and not expended for such investigations shall lapse to the general fund 2 years after receipt of such funds.
10 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:20-e, I to read as follows:
I. Each licensee shall reimburse to the commission, for the actual cost, including indirect costs, of each laboratory test conducted by the commission on the horse [or dog] that performed live at the licensee’s track, an amount equal to the actual cost of such test. The commission shall provide the licensee with an invoice within 10 days after the end of each month in which the licensee conducts live racing, and the licensee shall pay the invoice within 30 days after receipt of the invoice. Each invoice shall specify the number of tests conducted during the previous month, the identity of the animals tested, the results of each test, and the costs associated with each test.
11 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:21 to read as follows:
284:21 Penalty. Except in cases when another penalty is provided in this chapter, any person, association, or corporation holding or conducting, or any person or persons aiding or abetting in the holding or conducting, of any running or harness horse race [or dog race] or meet for public exhibition, at which pari-mutuel pools are sold, without a license duly issued by the commission, or any person, association, or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this chapter, or who violates any of the rules and regulations prescribed by the commission, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if a natural person, or guilty of a felony if any other person.
12 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:21-h, I(a) to read as follows:
(a) To conduct public drawings at such intervals and in such places within the state as the commission may determine. If governor and council grant approval, such drawings may be in the form of pure lotteries and if so, shall not be associated in any way with a sporting event. Such drawings may also be associated with horse [or dog races or both] races as hereinafter provided. At least one such drawing each year shall be based on a sweepstakes horse [or dog race or both] race held within the state.
13 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:21-h, I(c) to read as follows:
(c) To conduct both pure lotteries and horse [or dog race or both] race sweepstakes if the commission, with the approval of governor and council, shall determine that such program will best accomplish the purposes of this subdivision.
14 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:21-i, II(b) to read as follows:
(b) Establishing and fixing the purses, not to exceed an aggregate sum of $325,000 for a single calendar year, to be awarded horses[, or dogs, or both] in sweepstakes races.
15 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:12-i, III to read as follows:
III. In establishing the money or prizes to be awarded the holders of winning tickets and the purses for the horses [or dogs or both], the lottery commission shall be governed by the primary purpose of the lottery and sweepstakes, to raise revenue for the benefit of public education. They shall conduct such studies and make such investigations, either directly or through their agents, as will apprise them of prizes and money awarded to the holders of winning tickets in similar drawings wherever held. They shall consider the size of purses for the horses [or dogs or both] as bearing on the question of gaining public confidence in the sweepstakes races. They shall fix the prizes and amounts of money to be awarded winners as well as the purses for the horses [or dogs or both] in such manner as will yield the largest net revenue for the benefit of public education, bearing in mind the expenses to be incurred, and all other factors which tend to influence net revenue.
16 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:22-a, VII to read as follows:
VII. The provisions of [RSA 284:15-c, RSA 284:16-a, RSA 284:16-c,] RSA 284:17, RSA 284:17-a, and RSA 284:17-c shall not apply to simulcast and pari-mutuel pools under RSA 284:22-a, except as specifically provided in RSA 284:22-a.
17 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:35 to read as follows:
284:35 False Entry. No person shall knowingly enter or cause to be entered for competition, or knowingly compete with, any horse [or dog] under any other than its true name, or out of its proper class, for any purse, prize, premium, stake or sweepstakes offered to the winner of a contest of speed.
18 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:36 to read as follows:
284:36 Name. The name of any horse [or dog], for the purpose of entry for competition or performance in any contest of speed, shall be the name under which said horse [or dog] has been registered and has publicly performed, and shall not be changed, except as provided by the code of printed rules of the society or association under which the contest is advertised to be conducted.
19 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:38 to read as follows:
284:38 Malicious Interference with Horses [or Dogs]. Any person who wilfully or maliciously attempts to or does interfere with, tamper with, injure, or destroy by the use of narcotics, drugs, stimulants, or appliances of any kind any horse [or dog] used for the purpose of racing, whether such horse [or dog] be the property of such person or another, or who wilfully or maliciously causes, instigates, counsels, or in any way aids or abets any such interference, tampering, injury, or destruction shall be guilty of a class B felony if a natural person, or guilty of a felony if any other person. The owner of any race horse [or race dog] engaged in racing within this state that is found to have been stimulated or doped, or any entry of which such horse [or dog] is a part, shall be denied any part of the purse offered for such race, and the purse shall be distributed as in the case of a disqualification.
20 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 284:38-a to read as follows:
284:38-a Trainer as Insurer.
I. The trainer of record shall be responsible for and shall be the insurer of the condition of any kind of horses [or dogs] used for the purposes of racing, which such trainer of record enters to race. For purposes of this section, trainer of record means the person registered and identified as trainer of such horse [or dog] used for the purpose of racing in the records of the pari-mutuel commission.
II. The pari-mutuel commission, through its judges or stewards, may impose sanctions or penalties upon the trainer of record resulting from the condition of the horse [or dog] entered in a race failing to comply with the rules of the commission. Any person aggrieved by a decision by the commission, shall have the right to appeal the decision to the full commission. Any appeal to the commission shall be in accordance with RSA 284:13.
21 Dog Racing; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 332-D:3 to read as follows:
332-D:3 Sunday Racing Exempted. No provision of this chapter shall prohibit or authorize the prohibition of running or harness horse racing meets [or dog racing meets] on Sunday after midday and no action shall be required because of the provisions of this chapter by the selectmen of a town or the city council of a city or a town meeting to permit any such meet
22 New Section; Dog Racing Prohibited. Amend RSA 644 by inserting after section 8-f the following new section:
644:8-g Dog Racing Prohibited. No person shall confine, keep, or transport any dog with the intent that it shall be engaged or used in commercial dog racing in the state, or shall establish or promote a commercial dog race or meet in the state. For the purpose of this section, “commercial dog racing” means competitions based on the speed or agility of dogs where gambling occurs. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as set forth in RSA 644:8.
23 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 284:12, II, V, and VIII, relative to rulemaking for dog racing.
II. RSA 284:14-a, relative to the breeding of greyhounds for racing.
III. RSA 284:14-c, relative to the keeping of greyhound records.
IV. RSA 284:14-d, relative to greyhound injuries on racetracks.
V. RSA 284:15-a, relative to licenses for dog racing.
VI. RSA 284:15-c, relative to local options for dog racing.
VII. RSA 284:16-a, relative to the issuance of greyhound racing licenses.
VIII. RSA 284:16-c, relative to greyhound license restrictions.
IX. RSA 284:18-a, relative to rules of greyhound racing.
X. RSA 284:20-b, relative to judges at dog races.
24 Committee Established. There is established a committee to make recommendations for mitigating the impacts of prohibiting dog racing.
25 Membership and Compensation.
I. The members of the committee shall be as follows:
(a) Four members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
(b) Two members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
II. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.
26 Duties. The committee shall make recommendations for mitigating the impacts of prohibiting dog racing.
27 Chairperson; Quorum. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.
28 Report. The committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before July 1, 2008.
29 Effective Date.
I. Sections 24 through 28 of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect July 1, 2009.