HOUSE BILL 87
48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007
INTRODUCED BY
Larry A. Larrañaga
AN ACT
RELATING TO GAMING; PROHIBITING PERSONS UNDER TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE NEW MEXICO LOTTERY OR IN PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING AT A HORSE RACETRACK.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 6-24-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 155, Section 14) is amended to read:
"6-24-14. LOTTERY RETAILERS--CONTRACTS--SALES
COMMISSION--BONDS.--
A. Lottery tickets shall be sold only by a lottery retailer who, pursuant to a contract with the authority, has been issued a certificate of authority signed by the chief executive officer. The lottery retailer shall display the certificate conspicuously at each authorized location. No lottery retailer shall sell a lottery ticket except from the locations listed in [his] the contract and as evidenced by [his] the certificate of authority unless the authority authorizes in writing any temporary location not listed in [his] the contract.
B. Before entering into a contract with a lottery retailer applicant, the chief executive officer shall consider:
(1) the financial responsibility and security of the applicant and [his] the applicant's business or activity;
(2) the accessibility of [his] the applicant's place of business or activity to the public; and
(3) the sufficiency of existing licenses to serve the public convenience and the volume of the expected sales.
C. No person shall be a lottery retailer who:
(1) is under [eighteen] twenty-one years of age, and no employee of a lottery retailer under twenty-one years of age shall sell or distribute lottery tickets;
(2) is engaged exclusively in the business of selling lottery tickets;
(3) is a lottery vendor or an employee or agent of any lottery vendor doing business in New Mexico;
(4) has been found to have violated any provisions of the New Mexico Lottery Act or any rule adopted by the board pursuant to that act; or
(5) fails to certify to the chief executive officer that [his] the premises are in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
D. All lottery retailer contracts may be renewable annually in the discretion of the authority unless sooner terminated.
E. The authority to act as a lottery retailer is not assignable or transferable.
F. Lottery retailer applicants shall pay an application fee established by the board to cover the cost of investigating and processing the application.
G. The board shall determine the commission to be paid lottery retailers for their sales of lottery tickets.
H. Each lottery retailer shall keep a complete and current set of records accounting for all [of his] sales of lottery tickets and shall provide it for inspection upon request of the board, the chief executive officer, the legislative finance committee or the attorney general.
I. Lottery retailers shall make payments to the lottery only by check, bankdraft, electronic fund transfer or other recorded, noncash financial transfer method as determined by the chief executive officer.
J. No lottery retailer shall contract with any person for lottery goods or services except with the approval of the board."
Section 2. Section 6-24-15 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 155, Section 15) is amended to read:
"6-24-15. LOTTERY TICKETS--SALES.--
A. The price of each lottery ticket shall be clearly stated on the ticket. No person shall sell a ticket at a price other than at the price established by the authority unless authorized in writing by the chief executive officer. No person other than a lottery retailer shall sell lottery tickets, but this subsection shall not be construed to prevent a person who may lawfully purchase tickets from making a gift of lottery tickets. Transactions between individuals on a nonprofit basis are permissible. Nothing in the New Mexico Lottery Act shall be construed to prohibit the authority from designating certain of its agents or employees to sell or give lottery tickets directly to the public.
B. Lottery tickets may be given by merchants as a means of promoting goods or services to customers or prospective customers.
C. Tickets shall not be sold to or purchased by individuals under [eighteen] twenty-one years of age. Persons under [eighteen] twenty-one years of age may receive lottery tickets as gifts.
D. Tickets may be purchased only with cash or a check and shall not be purchased on credit.
E. The names of elected officials shall not appear on any lottery ticket."
Section 3. Section 60-1-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1933, Chapter 55, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:
"60-1-10. PARI-MUTUEL METHOD LEGALIZED--MAXIMUM COMMISSIONS--HORSEMEN'S COMMISSION--GAMBLING STATUTES NOT REPEALED--COMMISSION DISTRIBUTION.--
A. Within the enclosure where [any] horse races are conducted, either as live on-track horse races or as horse races simulcast pursuant to Section 60-1-25 NMSA 1978, and where the licensee has been licensed to use the pari-mutuel method or system of wagering on races, the pari-mutuel system is lawful, but only within the enclosure where races are conducted.
B. A person under twenty-one years of age shall not sell, purchase or possess a pari-mutuel ticket or certificate. The sale to patrons present on the grounds of pari-mutuel tickets or certificates on the races or the use of the pari-mutuel system shall not be construed to be betting, gambling or pool selling and is authorized under the conditions provided by law.
C. There shall be for each class A licensee a commission of nineteen percent of the gross amount wagered on win, place and show through the pari-mutuel system, of which eighteen and three-fourths percent shall be retained by a class A licensee and one-fourth [of one] percent shall be allocated to the general fund. A commission in an amount determined by the licensee of not less than eighteen and six-eighths percent and not greater than twenty-five percent of the gross amount wagered on win, place and show through the pari-mutuel system shall be retained by a class B licensee. Each class B licensee shall advise the state racing commission not less than thirty days in advance of each horse racing meeting of the percentage the licensee shall retain as commission. From that commission, each class A and class B licensee shall allocate five-eighths of one percent to the New Mexico horse breeders' association weekly for distribution pursuant to the provisions of Subsection C of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978.
D. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a commission shall be retained by the licensee at the election of each class A licensee of not less than twenty-one percent and not greater than twenty-five percent of the gross amount wagered on exotic wagering and at the election of each class B licensee, and with the approval of the state racing commission, of not less than twenty-one percent and not greater than thirty percent of the gross amount wagered on exotic wagering. For the purpose of this subsection, "exotic wagering" means all wagering, other than win, place and show, through the pari-mutuel system. Each licensee shall advise the state racing commission not less than thirty days in advance of each horse racing meeting of the amount of the commission of the gross amount wagered on exotic wagering to be retained by the licensee. From that commission, the licensee shall allocate one and three-eighths percent to the New Mexico horse breeders' association weekly for distribution pursuant to the provisions of Subsection C of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978.
E. The odd cents of all redistributions to the wagerer over the next lowest multiple of ten from the gross amount wagered through the pari-mutuel system shall be retained by the licensee, with fifty percent of the total being allocated to enhance the race purses of established stake races that include only horses registered as New Mexico bred with the New Mexico horse breeders' association, to be distributed by the New Mexico horse breeders' association pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection C of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978 subject to the approval of the state racing commission.
F. All money resulting from the failure of patrons who purchased winning pari-mutuel tickets during the meeting to redeem their winning tickets before the end of the sixty-day period immediately succeeding the closing day of the meeting and all money resulting from the failure of patrons who purchased pari-mutuel tickets that were entitled to refund but were not refunded during the same sixty-day period shall be apportioned as follows:
(1) thirty-three and thirty-three hundredths percent shall be retained by the licensee;
(2) thirty-three and thirty-four hundredths percent shall be distributed to the New Mexico horse breeders' association to enhance each track's established overnight purses for races that include only horses registered as New Mexico bred with the New Mexico horse breeders' association pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection C of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978, subject to the approval of the state racing commission; and
(3) thirty-three and thirty-three hundredths percent shall be allocated to [horseman's] horsemen's race purses.
G. To promote and improve the quality of horse racing and simulcasting and the participation of interested persons in horse racing in New Mexico, one-half [of one] percent of the gross amount wagered on simulcast horse races at each licensed racetrack in New Mexico that receives simulcast horse races shall be allocated by each licensee for distribution to the New Mexico horsemen's association; provided that at least [one-quarter of one] one-fourth percent of the gross amount wagered on simulcast races that is so allocated is used solely for medical benefits for the members of the New Mexico horsemen's association, and provided further that the remaining [one-quarter of one] one-fourth percent of the gross amount wagered on simulcast races that is so allocated shall be used to enhance purses at each such licensed racetrack. The state racing commission shall by regulation provide for the timing and manner of the distribution required by this subsection and shall audit, or arrange for an independent audit of, the disbursement required by this subsection.
H. Fifty percent of the net retainage of each licensee shall be allocated to race purses. For purposes of this section, "net retainage" of the licensee means the commission retained by the licensee on all forms of wagers minus:
(1) the taxes delineated in Sections 60-1-8 and 60-1-15 NMSA 1978;
(2) money allocated to the New Mexico horse breeders' association by this section and Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978;
(3) money allocated to the New Mexico horsemen's association by this section;
(4) a deduction for expenses incurred to engage in intrastate simulcasting pursuant to Section 60-1-25 NMSA 1978, provided that:
(a) the deduction for each licensee shall be a portion of five percent of the gross amount wagered at all the sites receiving the same simulcast horse races;
(b) the deduction portion for each licensee shall be an amount allocated to the licensee by agreement voluntarily reached among all the licensees sending or receiving the same simulcast horse races; and
(c) the deduction portion for each licensee shall be an amount allocated to the licensee by the state racing commission if all the licensees sending or receiving the same simulcast horse races fail to reach a voluntary agreement under Subparagraph (b) of this paragraph; and
(5) a deduction for fees and commissions incurred to receive interstate simulcasts pursuant to Section 60-1-25 NMSA 1978.
I. Existing statutes of this state against horse racing on Sundays or on bookmaking, pool selling or other methods of wagering on the racing of horses are not repealed but are hereby expressly continued in effect, with the exception that the operation of the pari-mutuel method or system in connection with the racing of horses, when used as provided by law, is lawful.
J. In the event any money paid or allocated to the New Mexico horse breeders' association or the New Mexico Appaloosa racing association pursuant to the Horse Racing Act cannot be paid to or allocated or administered by such associations, then the state racing commission, or such other organization as may be designated, retained or absolutely controlled by the state racing commission, shall receive all such money and shall pay, allocate and administer all such money pursuant to the provisions of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978. If the state racing commission or its controlled designee is required to pay, allocate or administer money on behalf of the New Mexico horse breeders' association or the New Mexico Appaloosa racing association pursuant to this subsection, then the maximum percentage of funds set forth in Paragraph (3) of Subsection C of Section 60-1-17 NMSA 1978 shall be paid by the state racing commission to the New Mexico horse breeders' association or the New Mexico Appaloosa racing association as a fee to obtain the certification of the registry of the dam and stud of the New Mexico bred horse.
K. In the event any money paid or allocated to the New Mexico horsemen's association pursuant to the Horse Racing Act cannot be paid to or allocated or administered by the association, then the state racing commission, or such other organization as may be designated, retained or absolutely controlled by the state racing commission, shall receive all such money and shall pay, allocate and administer all such money to achieve the purposes of the provisions of this section."
Section 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2007.
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