HOUSE BILL 187
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013
INTRODUCED BY
Candy Spence Ezzell
AN ACT
RELATING TO HORSE RACING; CREATING THE RACEHORSE TESTING FUND; PROVIDING A NATIONAL STANDARD FOR RACEHORSE TESTING; DEDICATING A PORTION OF THE DAILY CAPITAL OUTLAY TAX TO TEST RACEHORSES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Horse Racing Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] RACEHORSE TESTING FUND--CREATED--
PURPOSE.--The "racehorse testing fund" is created in the state treasury. The purpose of the fund is to ensure the testing of racehorses at a laboratory that meets or exceeds the current national laboratory standards for the testing of drugs or other foreign substances not naturally occurring in a horse, as established by the association of racing commissioners international, inc. The fund consists of one-half of the daily capital outlay tax appropriated and transferred pursuant to Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of Section 60-1A-20 NMSA 1978 and appropriations, gifts, grants and donations made to the fund. Income from investment of the fund shall be credited to the fund. The commission shall administer the racehorse testing fund, and money in the fund is appropriated to the commission for the handling and testing of blood plasma and other specimens taken from racehorses pursuant to Section 60-1A-14 NMSA 1978. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the racehorse testing fund at the end of a fiscal year in excess of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) shall revert to the general fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the executive director of the commission."
SECTION 2. Section 60-1A-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 39, Section 14) is amended to read:
"60-1A-14. TESTING SPECIMENS.--
A. The commission shall adopt rules applying to the handling and testing of [urine] blood plasma and other specimens identified by the commission to be taken from racehorses.
B. Each specimen taken from a racehorse shall be divided into two or more samples, and:
(1) one sample shall be tested by the commission or its designated laboratory in order to detect the presence of unauthorized drugs, chemicals, stimulants, depressants or other foreign substances not naturally occurring in a horse; and
(2) the second sample shall be forwarded by the commission to the scientific laboratory division of the department of health.
C. After an inconclusive or positive test result on the sample tested by the commission or its designated laboratory and upon a written request from the president, executive director or manager of the New Mexico horsemen's association on forms designated by the commission, the scientific laboratory division shall transmit the corresponding second sample to the New Mexico horsemen's association.
D. The scientific laboratory division shall keep all samples in a controlled environment for a period of at least three months.
E. The commission shall contract with an independent laboratory to maintain a quality assurance program. The designated laboratory of the commission shall meet or exceed the current national laboratory standards for the testing of drugs or other foreign substances not naturally occurring in a horse, as established by the association of racing commissioners international, inc."
SECTION 3. Section 60-1A-20 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2007, Chapter 39, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:
"60-1A-20. DAILY CAPITAL OUTLAY TAX--CAPITAL OUTLAY OFFSET--STATE FAIR COMMISSION DISTRIBUTION--DAILY LICENSE FEES.--
A. A "daily capital outlay tax" of two and three-
sixteenths percent is imposed on the gross amount wagered each day at a racetrack where horse racing is conducted on the premises of a racetrack licensee and also on the gross amount wagered each day when a racetrack licensee is engaged in simulcasting pursuant to the Horse Racing Act. After deducting the amount of offset allowed pursuant to this section, any remaining daily capital outlay tax shall be paid by the commission to the taxation and revenue department from the retainage of a racetrack licensee from on-site wagers made on the licensed premises of the racetrack licensee for deposit in the general fund. Of the daily capital outlay tax imposed pursuant to this subsection:
(1) for a class A racetrack licensee, not more than one-half of the daily capital outlay tax imposed on the first two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of the daily handle may be offset by the amount that the class A racetrack licensee expends for capital improvements or for long-term financing of capital improvements at the racetrack licensee's existing facility;
(2) for a class B racetrack licensee, not more than one-half of the daily capital outlay tax imposed on the first two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of the daily handle may be offset:
(a) in an amount not to exceed one-half of the offset allowed, the amount expended by the class B racetrack licensee for capital improvements; and
(b) in an amount not to exceed one-half of the offset allowed, the amount expended by the class B racetrack licensee for advertising, marketing and promoting horse racing in the state;
(3) through December 31, 2014, for both class A and class B racetrack licensees, an amount equal to one-half of the daily capital outlay tax is appropriated and transferred to the state fair commission for expenditure on capital improvements at the state fairgrounds and for expenditure on debt service on negotiable bonds issued for the state fairgrounds' capital improvements; and
(4) on and after January 1, 2015, for both class A and class B racetrack licensees, an amount equal to one-half of the daily capital outlay tax is appropriated and transferred to the [general] racehorse testing fund.
B. An additional daily license fee of five hundred dollars ($500) shall be paid to the commission by the racetrack licensee for each day of live racing on the premises of the racetrack licensee.
C. Accurate records shall be kept by the racetrack licensee to show gross amounts wagered, retainage, breakage and amounts received from interstate common pools and distributions from gross amounts wagered, retainage, breakage and amounts received from interstate common pools, as well as other information the commission may require. Records shall be open to inspection and shall be audited by the commission, its authorized representatives or an independent auditor selected by the commission. The commission may prescribe the method in which records shall be maintained. A racetrack licensee shall keep records that are accurate, legible and easy to understand.
D. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a political subdivision of the state shall not impose an occupational tax on a horse racetrack owned or operated by a racetrack licensee. A political subdivision of the state shall not impose an excise tax on a horse racetrack owned or operated by a racetrack licensee. Local option gross receipts taxes authorized by the state may be imposed to the extent authorized and imposed by a subdivision of the state on a horse racetrack owned or operated by a racetrack licensee."
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