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 1 of chapter 128C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of "Commission" the following definition:-

"Companion card", a full program of running horse races from outside the commonwealth run at the same time as the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county on a specified day as approved by the state racing commission.

SECTION 2. Said section 1 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Racing card" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Racing card", a full program of races on a specified day as approved by the state racing commission at a racing meeting licensee, a pari-mutuel licensee, or other licensed wagering facility located outside the commonwealth.

SECTION 3. Section 2 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph.

SECTION 4. The fifth paragraph of said section 2 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following five sentences:- With respect to horse racing, the greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county may simulcast up to fifty racing cards and up to fifteen special events of national significance as determined by the commission; provided, however, that said fifteen special events shall be in addition to any special events simulcast by said licensee which are shown as part of a live program from a host track, during a racing season only; provided, further, that each of these racing cards or special events shall be subject to application to and approval by the commission. Said greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county shall not be permitted to simulcast any thoroughbred or harness horse racing cards from a host track, whether within or without the commonwealth, in any calendar year, during the running horse racing meetings held in Suffolk county. With respect to horse racing, the greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county may simulcast with the permission of the commission every live running horse racing card of the running hose racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county. With the permission of the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county, and subject to the approval of the commission, the greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county may simulcast a companion card from a pari-mutuel running horse facility located outside the commonwealth; provided, however, that if the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county grants a companion card to the greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county, the running horse racing meeting licensee in Suffolk county shall grant an identical companion card to the harness horse racing meeting licensee located in Norfolk county. Said greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county shall be prohibited from simulcasting any running horse race during the dark days and dark season of the running horse racing meeting licensee in Suffolk county; provided, however, that such greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county may simulcast up to fifteen special events of national significance as determined by the commission; provided, further, that said fifteen special events shall be in addition to any special events simulcast by said licensee which are shown as part of a live program from a host track.

SECTION 5. Said section 2 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "day", in line 61, the following words:- ; provided, however, that the harness horse racing meeting licensee located in Norfolk county may simulcast an entire racing card from a running horse racing meeting located in the state of California during the live racing performance of the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county; provided, further, that, with the permission of the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county, and subject to the approval of the commission, the harness horse racing meeting licensee located in Norfolk county may simulcast a companion card from a pari-mutuel running horse facility located outside the commonwealth; provided, further, that if the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county grants a companion card to the harness horse racing meeting licensee located in Norfolk county, the running horse racing meeting licensee located in Suffolk county shall grant an identical companion card to the greyhound racing meeting licensee located in Bristol county.

SECTION 6. Said section 2 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 86 and 87, the words "ninety-three, nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and nineteen hundred and ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 7. Section 7 of said chapter 128C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following three paragraphs:-

No person licensed by the state racing commission shall put to death, within the commonwealth, a racing greyhound, except in a humane manner. For purposes of this section, the words "in a humane manner", shall mean, by means of euthanasia by lethal injection, or by the American Veterinary Medicine Association.

The racing commission shall adopt regulations that kennels and other appropriate licensees provide the racing commission with information and other data regarding the dispositions of racing and retired greyhounds. For purposes of this section and such regulations, the word "disposition", shall mean, euthanasia, transfer to another jurisdiction, or donation for adoption or medical or research purposes. The racing commission shall maintain accurate records and statistics regarding the disposition of all greyhounds who have participated in dog racing, including schooling races, in the commonwealth.

No greyhound licensed by the department of food and agriculture as a Massachusetts-bred greyhound shall be put to death, within the commonwealth, except in a humane manner. For purposes of this paragraph, the words "humane manner", shall mean, by means of euthanasia by lethal injection or by such other standard of humane killing as may be established by the American Veterinary Medicine Association.

SECTION 8. Said chapter 128C is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 8. The commission shall have full power to promulgate rules, regulations, and conditions under which all running horse, harness horse, or greyhound racing simulcasts and simulcast wagers shall be conducted in the commonwealth. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the commission may adopt emergency rules or regulations to protect the health or safety of the public, participants, or animals, or to insure the integrity of racing and pari-mutuel wagering; provided, however, that no emergency rule or regulation shall attempt to regulate the dates, manner of wagering, or economic terms or conditions of running horse, harness horse, and greyhound racing within the commonwealth; provided, further, that such emergency rules and regulations shall expire within ninety days of their promulgation.

SECTION 9. The first paragraph of section 12A of chapter 494 of the acts of 1978 is hereby amended by striking out the words "ninety-one through nineteen hundred and ninety-five", inserted by section 1 of chapter 428 of the acts of 1990, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 10. The last paragraph of said section 12A of said chapter 494, as amended by section 2 of said chapter 428, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- ninety-nine.

SECTION 11. Section 13 of said chapter 494, as most recently amended by section 2 of chapter 114 of the acts of 1991, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 4 and 5, the words "ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 12. Section 15 of said chapter 494 is hereby amended by striking out the words "ninety-one through nineteen hundred and ninety-five", inserted by section 4 of chapter 428 of the acts of 1990, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 13. Chapter 277 of the acts of 1986 is hereby amended by striking out section 9, as most recently amended by section 7 of chapter 101 of the acts of 1992, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fourteen of chapter four hundred and ninety-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-eight, during the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, each licensee conducting a greyhound racing meeting shall return to the winning patrons wagering on the speed and ability of any one or more greyhounds in a race or races all sums so deposited as an award or dividend, according to the acknowledged and recognized rules and methods under which such pari-mutuel or certificate system has been operated, less the 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 greyhound, a straight wager, so-called, and less an amount not to exceed twenty-six percent of the total amount so deposited by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of a combination of more than one greyhound in a single pool, an exotic wager, so-called.

Each person licensed to conduct a greyhound 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 greyhound racing meeting, a sum equal to five percent to be taken from the nineteen percent withheld from the so-called straight wager, and a sum equal to five percent to be taken from the percent withheld from the so-called exotic wager. A sum equal to one-tenth of one percent of the total amount deposited by patrons wagering on the speed or ability of greyhounds at pari-mutuel greyhound tracks, not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars per annum, less the so-called breaks, and taken from the five percent paid daily to the commission under this paragraph, shall, subject to appropriation, be allocated to the Massachusetts greyhound breeding program established under the provisions of section two.

Each such licensee shall allocate a sum equal to five percent of the total amount deposited daily by the patrons wagering at such meeting on a straight wager to be used for the payment of purses to the greyhound owners in accordance with the rules and established customs of conducting greyhound racing meetings and shall be paid from the nineteen percent withheld on straight wagers.

Each such licensee shall allocate for the payment of purses to the greyhound owners in accordance with the rules and established customs of conducting greyhound racing meetings a sum equal to five percent of the total amount deposited daily by the patrons wagering at such meeting on an exotic wager, and also allocate an additional sum, as negotiated by said licensee and approved by the racing commission, of the take-out exceeding nineteen percent.

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 to twenty-six 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 applicable amount required to be paid to purses at greyhound racing meetings, and after deducting therefrom the amounts required to be paid into the Greyhound Capital Improvements Trust Fund and the Greyhound Promotional Trust Fund.

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this section to the contrary, once a licensee conducting a greyhound racing meeting has reached the level of the total amount wagered during calendar year nineteen hundred and eighty-five, such licensee shall retain daily as its commission a sum not exceeding the balance of the nineteen to twenty-six percent withheld, as provided in this section, from the total amount wagered daily in the current year, deducting therefrom four and one-half percent to be paid to the commission, after deducting therefrom the amount hereinbefore required to be paid as purses, and after deducting therefrom the amounts required to be paid into the Greyhound Capital Improvements Trust Fund and into the Greyhound Promotional Trust Fund.

SECTION 14. Section 3 of chapter 114 of the acts of 1991 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- During the calendar years nineteen hundred and ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, 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 breaks, so-called, 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 an organization or organizations, as determined by the Massachusetts department of public health, which affords treatment or counseling to compulsive gamblers; provided, further, that any such organization receiving any such allocation from said amount shall make an annual report with the joint committee on government regulations and the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing its expenditures from said allocation; 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.

SECTION 15. The last paragraph of said section 3 of said chapter 114 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- ninety-nine.

SECTION 16. The first paragraph of section 4 of said chapter 114 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words "ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 17. The last paragraph of said section 4 of said chapter 114 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- ninety-nine.

SECTION 18. The first paragraph of section 5 of said chapter 114, as appearing in section 9 of chapter 101 of the acts of 1992, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the words "ninety-two through nineteen hundred and ninety-five" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ninety-six through nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 19. The fourth paragraph of said section 5 of said chapter 114, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 9 and 10, the words "and the Massachusetts council on compulsive gambling" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- and to an organization or organizations, as determined by the Massachusetts department of public health, which offers treatment or counseling to compulsive gamblers.

SECTION 20. Chapter 101 of the acts of 1992 is hereby amended by striking out section 13 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 13. The provisions of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight C of the General Laws shall expire on December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine.

SECTION 21. This act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six.