SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 47

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

John C. Ryan

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING NEW MEXICO'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION AMENDING THE FEDERAL PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR SPORTS PROTECTION ACT TO ALLOW PARI-MUTUEL BETTING ON BICYCLE RACING IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, in 1991, the New Mexico legislature enacted the Bicycle Racing Act, to be effective on July 1, 1992, that authorized pari-mutuel betting on Keirin-style velodrome bicycle racing; and

     WHEREAS, Keirin is a track cycling event in which racing cyclists sprint for victory that originated in Japan in 1948 and became an Olympic sport in 2000; and

     WHEREAS, bicycle racing under the Bicycle Racing Act has never occurred in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the Bicycle Racing Act provides for the bicycle-racing pari-mutuel tax, with thirteen percent of daily wagers paid to the general fund and two percent of daily wagers paid to the county treasurer; and

     WHEREAS, the bicycle racing commission created by the Bicycle Racing Act has drafted regulations, but they have not been formally adopted; and

     WHEREAS, the Bicycle Racing Act predates all Indian gaming compacts and their related revenue-sharing agreements in New Mexico and is therefore not in conflict with those compacts and agreements; and

     WHEREAS, in 1992, congress enacted the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act that made sports gambling unlawful, but excepted certain sports betting schemes sponsored or authorized by a state and actually conducted prior to October 3, 1991 and also excepted pari-mutuel animal racing and jai alai games; and

     WHEREAS, the purpose of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is to protect the integrity of professional and amateur sports and not pari-mutuel betting schemes, as evidenced by the exception for pari-mutuel animal racing and pari-mutuel jai alai games; and 

     WHEREAS, there is evidence in the congressional record that the sponsors of the federal legislation, including former New Mexico Senator Pete V. Domenici, did not believe that Keirin-style racing was unlawful under the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, but the senator's and other's comments came after the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act had been enacted; and

     WHEREAS, in an opinion requested by two New Mexico legislators, the New Mexico attorney general in 2001 issued an opinion holding that the Keirin-style racing scheme in the Bicycle Racing Act fell within the proscriptions of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, and, because bicycle racing had not been conducted in New Mexico prior to October 3, 1991, it was therefore not excepted from the federal act; and

     WHEREAS, in Japan, Keirin-style bicycle pari-mutuel racing is a multibillion-dollar enterprise; and

     WHEREAS, the current bicycle racing commission is eager to initiate Keirin-style bicycle racing, which it believes will produce tax revenue for New Mexico without requiring public financing support;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to introduce legislation that will amend the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act to include Keirin-style pari-mutuel bicycle racing with the other excepted pari-mutuel betting schemes and thus allow it as provided in New Mexico's Bicycle Racing Act; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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