Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 128 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (g) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(g) Promote, develop and encourage through the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeding Program, the breeding of thoroughbred horses in the commonwealth by offering cash prizes to breeders of such horses in the following manner: the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Inc. shall from time to time in consultation with the chairman of the racing commission and the program manager for the equine division in the department of agriculture set the percentages for bonuses to be awarded to the breeder of a Massachusetts bred thoroughbred horse, of the purse monies won by said thoroughbred horse in any pari-mutuel running horse race if said horse finishes first, second or third; the percentage for a cash prize to the owner of the stallion, at the time of service to the dam of such purse winner; provided, however, that (i) the stallion stood the breeding season of February through June in the commonwealth, (ii) the horse finishes first, second or third, and (iii) said stallion is registered with the department of food and agriculture; the percentage for a cash prize for the purse monies won by said thoroughbred horse in any unrestricted pari-mutuel running horse race to the owner of a Massachusetts bred horse if said horse finishes first, second, or third.

The Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Inc. is further authorized to pay cash purses for stakes races to be limited to Massachusetts bred thoroughbred race horses from the Massachusetts thoroughbred breeding program at licensed pari-mutuel race meetings authorized by the state racing commission. Such races may be betting or non-betting races and may or may not be scheduled races by the licensee conducting the racing meeting. Purse monies paid by the association under this section may be in such amounts as the association shall determine and may be the sole cash purse for such races or may be supplemental to the cash purses established by the licensee; provided, however, that no person, partnership, corporation or group of persons may receive more than five thousand dollars as a cash prize breeder's award from the association for an individual horse race within the commonwealth. For the purposes of this section a horse race shall mean a thoroughbred race of any kind held within the commonwealth except at fairs.

No person shall be eligible for the prizes provided herein unless the following standards are met:

(1) The foal of a thoroughbred mare that drops said foal in the commonwealth and is bred back to the Massachusetts registered stallion shall be Massachusetts bred; or

(2) The foal of a thoroughbred mare who resides in the commonwealth from the fifteenth day of October of the year prior to foaling, and continues such residence until foaling and foals in the commonwealth shall be Massachusetts bred.

(3) In either the case of subparagraph (1) or (2) each thoroughbred foal dropped in the commonwealth shall be registered with the Jockey Club and the department of food and agriculture.

(4) Prior to the first day of September of each year, each person standing a thoroughbred stallion in the commonwealth at either private or public service shall file with the department of food and agriculture: (a) a list of all thoroughbred mares bred to such stallion in that year; and (b) a verified statement representing that said stallion stood the entire breeding season in the commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Inc. is hereby further authorized to expend up to eight percent of the amount received each fiscal year for said program for advertising, marketing, promotion, and administration of the thoroughbred breeding program in the commonwealth.

The state auditor shall annually audit the books of the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Inc., to insure compliance with this section.

SECTION 2. Chapter 494 of the acts of 1978 is hereby amended by striking out section 13, as most recently amended by section 3 of chapter 428 of the acts of 1990, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 13. Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (5) of the first paragraph of section two and of clauses (a) to (q), inclusive, of the third paragraph of section three of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws during the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five, licenses to conduct racing meetings shall only be issued under the following conditions:-

(a) no license shall be issued for more than an aggregate of two hundred and seventy-five days in any one year at all running horse racing meetings combined, not including running horse racing meetings held in connection with state or county fairs; provided, however, that up to two hundred days may be awarded in Suffolk county only; provided, further, that up to seventy-five days may be awarded in Norfolk county only.

(b) no license shall be issued for more than an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-five racing days in any one year at all harness horse racing meetings combined, including harness horse racing meetings at state or county fairs.

(c) no license shall be issued for more than an aggregate of one thousand one hundred and ninety racing days in one year at all dog racing meetings combined, excluding dog racing meetings conducted at a racetrack owned and operated by a state or county fair in Essex county; provided, however, that two hundred and ten such days may be awarded only for racing in Hampden county during the period between the fifteenth of April and the twenty-first day of October, and five hundred and twenty of the remaining such days may be awarded only in Bristol county; provided, further, that the remaining four hundred and sixty days may be awarded only in Suffolk county; provided, further, that up to sixty additional days may, in the discretion of the commission, be awarded only in Suffolk county; provided, further, that in addition to the total number of racing days provided above the commission may issue a license for an additional sixty days of racing in Bristol county.

(d) licenses shall permit racing meetings only between the hours of ten o'clock antemeridian and twelve o'clock midnight. The state racing commission shall grant authorized dates at such times that are consistent with the best interests of racing and the public; provided, however, that dates for racing meetings held in connection with a state or county fair may only be awarded during the period between the fifteenth day of June and the fifteenth day of October; provided, further, that the state racing commission shall not allow harness horse racing meetings to be held at the same time of day as a running horse racing meeting. Said commission may, in its discretion, on written application from a racing licensee made at least seven days prior to the date or dates of any proposed change of time stated in said racing license and without necessity for further public hearing, change the hours of conducting such race meeting between any of the aforesaid hours, notwithstanding the hours set forth on the license; provided, however, that if by reason of national emergency, night illumination is forbidden by public authority, then said commission may in its discretion, issue a license to permit racing at such hours as said commission may determine between the hours of ten o'clock antemeridian and twelve o'clock midnight. For the purpose of imposing the fee provided for in section four of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, computing the sums payable to the racing commission pursuant to section fourteen of this chapter, and counting the number of days authorized by clause (a), (b) or (c) of this section, any racing held after seven o'clock post meridian on the same day on which racing is held at the same racetrack prior to seven o'clock post meridian shall be considered a separate day of racing.

(e) no licenses shall be issued to permit running horse race meetings to be held or conducted at the same time of day at more than one racetrack within the commonwealth except in connection with a state or county fair located at a distance greater than seventy-five miles from Suffolk county; provided, however, that in no case shall more than two such licenses be issued for meetings to be held or conducted at the same time of day.

(f) no licenses shall be issued to permit dog racing meetings to be held or conducted at more than four racetracks within the commonwealth, excluding dog racing meetings held in connection with a state or county fair at a racetrack owned and operated by said fair, nor at a dog track having a racing strip of less than three-sixteenths of a mile for outdoor tracks and one-fifth of a mile for indoor tracks, nor at any location where racing has not been conducted for at least five years prior to the effective date of this act and where the surrounding property is substantially of a residential character, as determined by or defined by a zoning ordinance or by-law, if any, controlling such location; provided, however, that one such license may be issued only for racing in Hampden county; provided, further, that any such licenses issued in Bristol county shall require that racing shall be held or conducted at a single location which has winterized spectator areas and which has a heated racing surface, if the applicants for such licenses agree that any such races be held or conducted at a single location.

(g) no license shall be issued to any person who is in any way in default, under the provisions of this act, in the performance of any obligation or in the payment of any debt to the racing commission; provided, however, that no license shall be issued to any person who has, within ten years of the time of filing the application for such license been convicted of violating the provisions of section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws.

(h) in granting authorized dates hereunder the state racing commission shall take into consideration, in addition to any other appropriate and pertinent factors, the following: the financial ability of an applicant to operate a racetrack, the maximization of state revenues, the suitability of racing facilities for operation at the time of the year for which dates are assigned; the circumstances that large groups of spectators require safe and convenient facilities; the interest of members of the public in racing competition honestly managed and of good quality; the necessity of having and maintaining proper physical facilities for racing meetings and the necessity of according fair treatment to the economic interest and investments of those who in good faith have provided and maintain such facilities. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the racing commission shall have the right to review and reconsider without further notice or public hearing any application made prior to October first for which racing dates have been requested for the following year; provided, however, that such application has had a public hearing prior to November fifteenth; provided, further, that any applicant who has been denied said racing dates makes a written request for review and reconsideration within ninety days of receiving notice of such denial; provided, further, that said commission shall reconsider and review said request within one hundred and eighty days of such denial.

SECTION 3. During the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five, each running horse track licensee under section three of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, other than a licensee holding a racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, shall daily pay: (a) the total sum of the so-called breaks, as defined in section five of said chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, less one hundred thousand dollars, into the trust fund known as the Running Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund under the direction and supervision of the state racing commissioners, as they are individuals, as trustees of said trust; provided, however, that the aforementioned sum of one hundred thousand dollars shall be allocated, subject to appropriation, to the Massachusetts council on compulsive gambling and (b) a sum equal to one-quarter of one percent of the total amount wagered by patrons so wagering into a trust fund known as the Running Horse Promotional Trust Fund under the direction and supervision of the state racing commissioners, as they are individuals, as trustees of said trust. Said trustees shall deposit all monies in said trust funds in one or more banks, at interest, within the commonwealth.

Said trustees may expend without appropriation all or any part of the Running Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund to a running horse track licensee in proportion to the amount deposited in said fund by said running horse track licensee for use as all or part of a capital expenditure for alterations, additions, replacements, changes, improvements or major repairs to or upon the property owned or leased by such licensee and used by it for the conduct of racing, but not for the costs of maintenance or of other ordinary operations, whether such costs have been incurred or not; and said trustees may expend without appropriation all or any part of the Running Horse Promotional Trust Fund to such licensee in proportion to the amount deposited in said fund by said licensee for use in promotional marketing, to reduce the costs of admission, programs, parking and concessions, and to offer other entertainment and giveaways. Said trustees may expend to a licensee all amounts accumulated in such trust funds which are attributable to racing operations conducted at a running horse track.

Said trustees shall prescribe terms and conditions for such grants and may designate specific capital improvements or promotions to be undertaken by a licensee; provided, however, that, prior to approving any expenditures from said trust funds for purposes not designated by the trustees, the trustees shall require the licensee to submit to them detailed business plans describing the specific promotions and capital improvements contemplated by the licensee and shall formally vote to permit such expenditures; provided, further, that under no circumstances shall the trustees permit the expenditure of trust funds for purposes not directly related to the improvement of running horse racing or for the raising of handles and attendance; and provided, further, that such terms and conditions for capital improvement projects shall include schedules of periodic payments to be prepared by the trustees in accordance with schedules contained in construction contracts for such capital improvement projects. Such licensee shall comply with all applicable provisions of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the General Laws unless such compliance is waived by the commission for cause.

No such expenditure for such capital improvements or for such promotions shall be approved by the trustees if such improvements or promotions are to be accomplished pursuant to a contract with a person, corporation, partnership, trust or any combination of the same or any other entity owned wholly or in part by a person, corporation, partnership, trust or any combination of the same or any other entity which owns or operates or holds any interest in any racetrack in the commonwealth.

The trustees shall hire the services of such architectural and engineering consultants or the services of such other consultants as they deem appropriate to advise them generally and to evaluate proposed capital improvement and promotional projects submitted to them for their approval.

Nothing herein contained shall preclude a running horse track from making capital improvements or undertaking promotional operations not funded in whole or in part from such funds; provided, however, that all sums approved by said trustees hereunder shall be expended in their entirety for capital improvements or for promotions; provided, further, that any revision by said licensee in the making of capital improvements or in promotional plans as hereinbefore provided, shall require separate written approval by the trustees therefor. All financial statements required under section six of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws shall be accompanied by a statement signed under the pains and penalties of perjury by the chief financial officer of the licensee, setting forth the capital improvements made and the promotions completed with funds obtained under this section and further certifying that such expenditures are treated as capital expenditures and promotional expenditures in the accompanying financial statements.

The trustees shall require from a running horse racetrack such vouchers, cancelled checks or other documents as said trustees deem necessary to verify that the expenditures from said funds were carried out in accordance with the provisions of this section.

Funds paid by licensees and deposited by the commission in the Running Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund and in the Running Horse Promotional Trust Fund shall remain in said funds until expended under this section; provided, however, that any amount in said accounts as of December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five which has not been so expended or as to which no binding commitment has been made by said trustees shall thereupon be deposited in the General Fund.

SECTION 4. During the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five, each harness horse track licensee under section three of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, other than a licensee holding a racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair shall daily pay: (a) the total sum of the so-called breaks, as defined in section five of said chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, and a sum equal to one percent of the total amount wagered by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of a combination of more than one harness horse in a single pool, exotic wagering, so-called, into the trust fund known as the Harness Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund under the direction and supervision of the state racing commissioners, as they are individuals, as trustees of said trust; and (b) a sum equal to one percent of the total amount wagered by patrons so wagering on said exotic races into a trust fund known as the Harness Horse Promotional Trust Fund under the direction and supervision of the state racing commissioners, as they are individuals, as trustees of said trust. Said trustees shall deposit all monies in said trust funds in one or more banks, at interest within the commonwealth.

Said trustees may expend without appropriation all or any part of the Harness Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund to a harness horse track licensee for use as all or part of a capital expenditure for alterations, additions, replacements, changes, improvements or major repairs to or upon the property owned or leased by such licensee and used by it for the conduct of racing, but not for the costs of maintenance or of other ordinary operations, whether such costs have been incurred or not; and said trustees may expend without appropriation all or any part of the Harness Horse Promotional Trust Fund to such licensee for use in promotional marketing, to reduce the costs of admission, programs, parking and concessions, and to offer other entertainment and giveaways. Said trustees may expend to a licensee all amounts accumulated in such trust funds which are attributable to racing operations conducted at a harness horse track.

Said trustees shall prescribe terms and conditions for such grants and may designate specific capital improvements or promotions to be undertaken by the licensee; provided, however, that prior to approving any expenditures from said trust funds for purposes not designated by the trustees, the trustees shall require the licensee to submit to them detailed business plans describing the specific promotions and capital improvements contemplated by the licensee and shall formally vote to permit such expenditures; provided, further, that under no circumstances shall the trustees permit the expenditure of trust funds for purposes not directly related to the improvement of harness horse racing or for the raising of handles and attendance; provided, further, that such terms and conditions for capital improvement projects shall include schedules of periodic payments to be prepared by the trustees in accordance with schedules contained in construction contracts for such capital improvement projects. Such licensee shall comply with all applicable provisions of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the General Laws unless such compliance is waived by the commission in writing for cause.

No such expenditure for capital improvements or for promotions shall be approved by the trustees if such improvements or promotions are to be accomplished pursuant to a contract with a person, corporation, partnership, trust or any combination of the same or any other entity owned wholly or in part by a person, corporation, partnership, trust or any combination of the same or any other entity which owns or operates or holds any interest in any racetrack in the commonwealth.

The trustees shall hire the services of such architectural and engineering consultants or the services of such other consultants as they deem appropriate to advise them generally and to evaluate capital improvement and promotional projects submitted to them for their approval.

Nothing herein contained shall preclude a harness horse track from making capital improvements or undertaking promotional operations not funded in whole or in part from such funds; provided, however, that all sums approved by said trustees hereunder shall be expended in their entirety for capital improvements or for promotions; provided, further, that any revision by said licensee in the making of capital improvements or in promotional plans as hereinbefore provided, shall require separate written approval by the trustees therefor. All financial statements required under section six of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws shall be accompanied by a statement signed under the pains and penalties of perjury by the chief financial officer of the licensee, setting forth the capital improvements made and the promotions completed with funds obtained under this section and further certifying that such expenditures are treated as capital expenditures and promotional expenditures in the accompanying statements.

The trustees shall require from a harness racetrack such vouchers, cancelled checks or other documents as said trustees deem necessary to verify that the expenditures from said funds were carried out in accordance with the provisions of this section.

Funds paid by licensees and deposited by the commission in the Harness Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund and in the Harness Horse Promotional Trust Fund shall remain in said funds until expended under this section; provided, however, that any amount in said accounts as of December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five which has not been so expended or as to which no binding commitment has been made by said trustees shall thereupon be deposited in the General Fund.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, during the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five, each licensee conducting a running horse or a harness horse racing meeting shall return to the winning patrons wagering on the speed or ability of any one harness horse or any one running horse in a race or races all sums so deposited as an award or dividend, according to the acknowledged and recognized rules and method under which such pari-mutuel or certificate system has been operated, less the so-called breaks, as defined in section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws, and less an amount not to exceed nineteen percent of the total amount so deposited by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of any one harness horse or of any one running horse, and less the so-called breaks; and each licensee conducting a running horse or a harness horse racing meeting shall return to the winning patrons wagering on the speed or ability of a combination of more than one horse in a single pool, exotic wagering, so-called, all sums so deposited as an award or dividend, according to the acknowledged and recognized rules and method under which such pari-mutuel or certificate system has been operated, less the so-called breaks and less an amount not to exceed twenty-five percent of the total amount so deposited, and less the so-called breaks; provided, however, that a sum equal to one-half of one percent of the total amount deposited on said exotic wagering pool at a running horse racing meeting shall be sent on a daily basis to Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine for equine research scholarships and loans.

Each person licensed to conduct a running horse racing meeting, other than a licensee holding a racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, shall pay to the state racing commission on the day following each day of such running horse racing meeting, a sum equal to three-quarters of one percent of the total amount deposited on the preceding day by the patrons so wagering at such meeting, said percentage to be paid from the nineteen percent and twenty-five percent withheld, as provided in this section, from the total amount wagered. A sum equal to one percent of the total amount deposited by the patrons, less the so-called breaks, and taken from the nineteen percent withheld, and from the twenty-five percent withheld from so-called exotic wagers, shall be on a daily basis sent to the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Inc. for the purposes of the provisions of subsection (g) of section two of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight of the General Laws.

Each licensee conducting a running horse racing meeting, other than a licensee holding a racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, shall allocate a sum equal to eight and one-half percent of the total amount deposited daily by the patrons wagering at such meeting. Said percentage shall be used for the payment of purses to the horseowners in accordance with the rules and established customs of conducting running horse racing meetings and said eight and one-half percent shall be paid from the nineteen percent or twenty-five percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered.

Each such licensee may retain as its commission on the total of all sums so deposited, a sum not exceeding the balance of the nineteen or twenty-five percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered after deducting therefrom the amount hereinbefore required to be paid to said commission, after deducting therefrom the amount required to be paid from purses at running horse racing meetings, and after deducting therefrom the amounts required to be paid into the Running Horse Capital Improvements Fund, the Running Horse Promotional Trust Fund, the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeding Association, Inc., the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and the Massachusetts council on compulsive gambling.

Each person licensed to conduct a harness horse racing meeting, including a licensee holding a harness horse racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, shall pay to the state racing commission on the day following each day of such horse racing meeting, a sum equal to one and one-quarter percent of the total amount deposited on the preceding day by the patrons so wagering at such meeting, said percentage to be paid from the nineteen percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered, or from the twenty-five percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered on exotic races, excluding races conducted in connection with a state or county fair.

Each licensee conducting a harness racing meeting, including a licensee holding a racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, shall allocate a sum equal to eight percent of the total amount deposited daily by the patrons wagering at such meeting, and a sum equal to ten percent of the total amount deposited daily by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of a combination of more than one harness horse in a single pool, exotic wagering, so-called, said percentages to be used for the payment of purses to the horseowners in accordance with the rules and established customs of conducting harness horse racing meetings. Said eight percent is to be paid from the nineteen percent withheld, as provided in this section from the total amount wagered. Said ten percent is to be paid from the twenty-five percent withheld, as provided in this section, from the total amount wagered on exotic races.

Each such licensee may retain as its commission on the total of all sums so deposited, a sum not exceeding the balance of the nineteen or twenty-five percent withheld as provided in this section from the total amount wagered after deducting therefrom the amount hereinbefore required to be paid to the racing commission, after deducting therefrom the applicable amount required to be paid for purses at harness racing meetings, and after deducting therefrom, as applicable, the amounts required to be paid into the Harness Horse Capital Improvements Trust Fund and into the Harness Horse Promotional Trust Fund.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon the legalization of off-track pari-mutuel wagering at locations in Massachusetts other than licensed racetracks, "OTB" so-called, within the commonwealth, the amount withheld from exotic wagers shall be twenty-three percent.

SECTION 6. The provisions of the third paragraph of section five of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws shall not apply to any licensee who is licensed pursuant to the provisions of this act.

SECTION 7. Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirteen of chapter four hundred and ninety-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-eight as amended by section two of this act, any person may, after seven days of the effective date of this act, make application for a license to conduct racing meetings on such thoroughbred and harness horse racing dates as the state racing commission shall award in calendar year nineteen hundred and ninety-one; provided, however, that no license shall be granted to licensees to conduct harness horse or running horse racing meetings before November first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

Procedures for granting any such license for calendar year nineteen hundred and ninety-one shall be the same procedures as those required by this act and chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A of the General Laws for racing dates for subsequent years.

If the state racing commission shall award licenses for racing dates for nineteen hundred and ninety-one, the provisions of this act shall apply to such licenses.

SECTION 8. In all other respects the laws of the commonwealth regulating racing shall apply to licensees and to any racing meetings held by licensees pursuant to the provisions of this act.

SECTION 9. The provisions of section seven of this act shall apply to licenses applied for or granted for harness horse or horse racing meetings during nineteen hundred and ninety-one. All other provisions of this act shall apply to licenses applied for or granted for racing to commence on or after January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-two.

SECTION 10. The provisions of clause (b) of the first paragraph of section three of this act shall take effect on November first, nineteen hundred and ninety-two.