Bill Text: FL S1376 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Pari-mutuel Wagering

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2012-03-09 - Died in Regulated Industries [S1376 Detail]

Download: Florida-2012-S1376-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2012                                    SB 1376
       
       
       
       By Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       13-01023D-12                                          20121376__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to pari-mutuel wagering; amending s.
    3         550.002, F.S.; adding and revising definitions;
    4         repealing s. 550.0745, F.S., relating to the
    5         conversion of a pari-mutuel permit to a summer jai
    6         alai permit; amending s. 550.3345, F.S.; deleting
    7         provisions authorizing the relocation of a converted
    8         limited thoroughbred permit; amending s. 551.102,
    9         F.S.; redefining the term “eligible facility” as it
   10         relates to slot machine gaming; providing that a
   11         facility may become eligible for slot machine gaming
   12         only after a specifically authorized referendum has
   13         been conducted; providing that slot machine licenses
   14         may be issued only to certain pari-mutuel
   15         permitholders; prohibiting the transfer of a slot
   16         machine license; redefining the term “slot machine
   17         licensee” to conform to changes made by the act;
   18         amending s. 551.104, F.S.; authorizing the Division of
   19         Pari-mutuel Wagering to approve an application for a
   20         license to conduct slot machine gaming for a facility
   21         located in a county operating under a home rule
   22         charter; providing an effective date.
   23  
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. Section 550.002, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   27  read:
   28         550.002 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   29         (1) “Breaks” means the portion of a pari-mutuel pool which
   30  is computed by rounding down to the nearest multiple of 10 cents
   31  and is not distributed to the contributors or withheld by the
   32  permitholder as takeout.
   33         (2) “Breeders’ and stallions’ awards” means financial
   34  incentives paid to encourage the agricultural industry of
   35  breeding racehorses in this state.
   36         (3) “Broadcast” means the broadcast, transmission,
   37  simulcast, or exhibition in any medium or manner by means that
   38  may include, but are not limited to, community antenna systems
   39  that receive and retransmit television or radio signals by wire,
   40  cable, or otherwise to television or radio sets, and cable
   41  origination networks or programmers that transmit programming to
   42  community antenna televisions or closed-circuit systems by wire,
   43  cable, satellite, or otherwise.
   44         (4) “Contributor” means a person who contributes to a pari
   45  mutuel pool by engaging in any pari-mutuel wager pursuant to
   46  this chapter.
   47         (5) “Current meet” or “current race meet” means the conduct
   48  of racing or games pursuant to a current year’s operating
   49  license issued by the division.
   50         (6) “Department” means the Department of Business and
   51  Professional Regulation.
   52         (7) “Division” means the Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering
   53  within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
   54         (8) “Event” means a single contest, race, or game within a
   55  performance.
   56         (9) “Exotic pools” means wagering pools, other than the
   57  traditional win, place, or show (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place) pools,
   58  into which a contributor can place a wager on more than one
   59  entry or on more than one race or game in the same bet and which
   60  includes, but is not limited to, daily doubles, perfectas,
   61  quinielas, quiniela daily doubles, exactas, trifectas, and Big Q
   62  pools.
   63         (10) “Fronton” means a building or enclosure that contains
   64  a playing court with three walls designed and constructed for
   65  playing the sport of jai alai or pelota.
   66         (11) “Full schedule of live racing or games” means, for a
   67  greyhound or jai alai permitholder, the conduct of a combination
   68  of at least 100 live evening or matinee performances during the
   69  preceding year; for a permitholder who has a converted permit or
   70  filed an application on or before June 1, 1990, for a converted
   71  permit, the conduct of a combination of at least 100 live
   72  evening and matinee wagering performances during either of the 2
   73  preceding years; for a jai alai permitholder who does not
   74  operate slot machines in its pari-mutuel facility, who has
   75  conducted at least 100 live performances per year for at least
   76  10 years after December 31, 1992, and whose handle on live jai
   77  alai games conducted at its pari-mutuel facility has been less
   78  than $4 million per state fiscal year for at least 2 consecutive
   79  years after June 30, 1992, the conduct of a combination of at
   80  least 40 live evening or matinee performances during the
   81  preceding year; for a jai alai permitholder who operates slot
   82  machines in its pari-mutuel facility, the conduct of a
   83  combination of at least 150 performances during the preceding
   84  year; for a harness permitholder, the conduct of at least 100
   85  live regular wagering performances during the preceding year;
   86  for a quarter horse permitholder at its facility unless an
   87  alternative schedule of at least 20 live regular wagering
   88  performances is agreed upon by the permitholder and either the
   89  Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association or the horsemen’s
   90  association representing the majority of the quarter horse
   91  owners and trainers at the facility and filed with the division
   92  along with its annual date application, in the 2010-2011 fiscal
   93  year, the conduct of at least 20 regular wagering performances,
   94  in the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 fiscal years, the conduct of at
   95  least 30 live regular wagering performances, and for every
   96  fiscal year after the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the conduct of at
   97  least 40 live regular wagering performances; for a quarter horse
   98  permitholder leasing another licensed racetrack, the conduct of
   99  160 events at the leased facility; and for a thoroughbred
  100  permitholder, the conduct of at least 40 live regular wagering
  101  performances during the preceding year. For a permitholder that
  102  which is restricted by statute to certain operating periods
  103  within the year when other members of its same class of permit
  104  are authorized to operate throughout the year, the specified
  105  number of live performances which constitutes constitute a full
  106  schedule of live racing or games shall be adjusted pro rata in
  107  accordance with the relationship between its authorized
  108  operating period and the full calendar year and the resulting
  109  specified number of live performances shall constitute the full
  110  schedule of live games for such permitholder and all other
  111  permitholders of the same class within 100 air miles of such
  112  permitholder. A live performance must consist of no fewer than
  113  eight races or games conducted live for each of a minimum of
  114  three performances each week at the permitholder’s licensed
  115  facility under a single admission charge.
  116         (12) “Greyhound racing” means the racing of greyhound dogs
  117  on an oval track. The dogs must start in a staring box, chase a
  118  lure, and compete in an electronically timed race.
  119         (13)(12) “Guest track” means a track or fronton receiving
  120  or accepting an intertrack wager.
  121         (14)(13) “Handle” means the aggregate contributions to
  122  pari-mutuel pools.
  123         (15)(14) “Harness racing” means a type of horseracing which
  124  is limited to two or more standardbred horses using a pacing or
  125  trotting gait in which each horse pulls a two-wheeled cart
  126  called a sulky guided by a race driver licensed by the state and
  127  the United States Trotting Association.
  128         (16) “Horserace” or “horseracing” means a head-to-head
  129  contest between two or more thoroughbred horses, quarter horses,
  130  or standardbred horses racing with each other in the same event
  131  on a flat oval track at least 1/2 mile in circumference, with
  132  banked turns and a connecting straight chute at least 440 yards
  133  in length, which does not require a horse to change its course
  134  in response to any obstacles on the racing surface. Horseracing
  135  does not include steeplechases, hurdle races, barrel racing,
  136  timed events, pole pending, or any other rodeo or gymkhana-style
  137  events.
  138         (17)(15) “Horserace permitholder” means any thoroughbred
  139  entity permitted under the provisions of this chapter to conduct
  140  pari-mutuel wagering meets of thoroughbred racing; any harness
  141  entity permitted under this chapter to conduct pari-mutuel
  142  wagering meets of harness racing; or any quarter horse entity
  143  permitted under this chapter to conduct pari-mutuel wagering
  144  meets of quarter horse racing.
  145         (18)(16) “Host track” means a track or fronton conducting a
  146  live or simulcast race or game that is the subject of an
  147  intertrack wager.
  148         (19)(17) “Intertrack wager” means a particular form of
  149  pari-mutuel wagering in which wagers are accepted at a
  150  permitted, in-state track, fronton, or pari-mutuel facility on a
  151  race or game transmitted from and performed live at, or
  152  simulcast signal rebroadcast from, another in-state pari-mutuel
  153  facility.
  154         (20)(18) “Jai alai” or “pelota” means a ball game that
  155  originated in Spain’s Basque region and that is of Spanish
  156  origin played on a three-walled court, or cancha, with a hard
  157  rubber ball that is caught and thrown with a long, curved wicker
  158  basketlike glove, or cesta, which is strapped to one arm. The
  159  side wall of the court must be between 175 to 180 feet long and
  160  40 to 50 feet high. The front wall must be made of granite and
  161  all other walls must be made of granite or gunite. The front
  162  wall must be at least 35 feet square with foul areas above,
  163  below, and to the right of the granite square. Foul areas must
  164  be painted red and made of a different construction. The numbers
  165  1 through 14 must be painted on the walls and may be painted on
  166  the floor of the court. Jai Alai is played with a 125-gram ball,
  167  or pelota, and the ball is volleyed by players who wear a cesta
  168  that is approximately 63 to 70 centimeters long. Opposing
  169  players or teams alternate hurling the ball against the wall and
  170  catching it. Other games may not be substituted in lieu of the
  171  traditional game of jai alai, which must be played on the
  172  traditional court three walls.
  173         (21)(19) “Market area” means an area within 25 miles of a
  174  permitholder’s track or fronton.
  175         (22)(20) “Meet” or “meeting” means the conduct of live
  176  racing or jai alai for any stake, purse, prize, or premium.
  177         (23)(21) “Operating day” means a continuous period of 24
  178  hours starting with the beginning of the first performance of a
  179  race or game, even though the operating day may start during one
  180  calendar day and extend past midnight except that no greyhound
  181  race or jai alai game may commence after 1:30 a.m.
  182         (24)(22) “Pari-mutuel” means a system of betting on races
  183  or games in which the winners divide the total amount bet, after
  184  deducting management expenses and taxes, in proportion to the
  185  sums they have wagered individually and with regard to the odds
  186  assigned to particular outcomes.
  187         (25)(23) “Pari-mutuel facility” means a racetrack, fronton,
  188  or other facility used by a permitholder for the conduct of
  189  pari-mutuel wagering.
  190         (26)(24) “Pari-mutuel wagering pool” means the total amount
  191  wagered on a race or game for a single possible result.
  192         (27)(25) “Performance” means a series of events, races, or
  193  games performed consecutively under a single admission charge.
  194         (28)(26) “Post time” means the time set for the arrival at
  195  the starting point of the horses or greyhounds in a race or the
  196  beginning of a game in jai alai.
  197         (29)(27) “Purse” means the cash portion of the prize for
  198  which a race or game is contested.
  199         (30)(28) “Quarter horse” means a breed of horse developed
  200  in the western United States which is capable of high speed for
  201  a short distance and used in quarter horse racing registered
  202  with the American Quarter Horse Association.
  203         (31) “Quarter horse racing” means horse racing by horses
  204  registered with the American Quarter Horse Association on a
  205  straight track of 400 meters, or 1/4 mile. Other distances
  206  between 220 meters and 870 meters may be conducted if the horses
  207  race on a straight path on a traditional oval or straight track.
  208  Quarter horse racing is flat racing where the horses must
  209  maintain original lane position as best as possible for the
  210  duration of the race. The horses must start in starting boxes,
  211  mounted by a jockey, and the event must be electronically timed.
  212  Other races or contests may not be substituted for the
  213  traditional flat race on a straight or oval track.
  214         (32)(29) “Racing greyhound” means a greyhound that is or
  215  was used, or is being bred, raised, or trained to be used, in
  216  racing at a pari-mutuel facility and is registered with the
  217  National Greyhound Association.
  218         (33)(30) “Regular wagering” means contributions to pari
  219  mutuel pools involving wagering on a single entry in a single
  220  race, or a single jai alai player or team in a single game, such
  221  as the win pool, the place pool, or the show pool.
  222         (34)(31) “Same class of races, games, or permit” means,
  223  with respect to a jai alai permitholder, jai alai games or other
  224  jai alai permitholders; with respect to a greyhound
  225  permitholder, greyhound races or other greyhound permitholders;
  226  with respect to a thoroughbred permitholder, thoroughbred races
  227  or other thoroughbred permitholders; with respect to a harness
  228  permitholder, harness races or other harness permitholders; with
  229  respect to a quarter horse permitholder, quarter horse races or
  230  other quarter horse permitholders.
  231         (35)(32) “Simulcasting” means broadcasting events occurring
  232  live at an in-state location to an out-of-state location, or
  233  receiving at an in-state location events occurring live at an
  234  out-of-state location, by the transmittal, retransmittal,
  235  reception, and rebroadcast of television or radio signals by
  236  wire, cable, satellite, microwave, or other electrical or
  237  electronic means for receiving or rebroadcasting the events.
  238         (36)(33) “Standardbred horse” means a pacing or trotting
  239  horse that is used in harness racing and that has been
  240  registered as a standardbred by the United States Trotting
  241  Association or by a foreign registry whose stud book is
  242  recognized by the United States Trotting Association.
  243         (37)(34) “Takeout” means the percentage of the pari-mutuel
  244  pools deducted by the permitholder before prior to the
  245  distribution of the pool.
  246         (38)(35) “Thoroughbred” means a purebred horse whose
  247  ancestry can be traced back to one of three foundation sires and
  248  whose pedigree is registered in the American Stud Book or in a
  249  foreign stud book that is recognized by the Jockey Club and the
  250  International Stud Book Committee.
  251         (39) “Thoroughbred racing” means horse racing by
  252  thoroughbred horses on an oval track at least 7/8 mile long and
  253  70 feet wide, with racing distances ranging from 3/4 mile to 2
  254  miles in length. The horses must start in a starting box,
  255  mounted by a jockey, and the event must be electronically timed.
  256  Other races or contests may not be substituted for the
  257  traditional flat race on an oval track.
  258         (40)(36) “Totalisator” means the computer system used to
  259  accumulate wagers, record sales, calculate payoffs, and display
  260  wagering data on a display device that is located at a pari
  261  mutuel facility.
  262         (41)(37) “Ultimate equitable owner” means a natural person
  263  who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls 5 percent or more
  264  of an ownership interest in a corporation, foreign corporation,
  265  or alien business organization, regardless of whether such
  266  person owns or controls such ownership through one or more
  267  natural persons or one or more proxies, powers of attorney,
  268  nominees, corporations, associations, partnerships, trusts,
  269  joint stock companies, or other entities or devices, or any
  270  combination thereof.
  271         (42)(38) “Year,” for purposes of determining a full
  272  schedule of live racing, means the state fiscal year.
  273         (43)(39) “Net pool pricing” means a method of calculating
  274  prices awarded to winning wagers relative to the contribution,
  275  net of takeouts, to a pool by each participating jurisdiction
  276  or, as applicable, site.
  277         Section 2. Section 550.0745, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
  278         Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section
  279  550.3345, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  280         550.3345 Conversion of quarter horse permit to a limited
  281  thoroughbred permit.—
  282         (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the holder
  283  of a quarter horse racing permit issued under s. 550.334 may,
  284  within 1 year after the effective date of this section, apply to
  285  the division for a transfer of the quarter horse racing permit
  286  to a not-for-profit corporation formed under state law to serve
  287  the purposes of the state as provided in subsection (1). The
  288  board of directors of the not-for-profit corporation must be
  289  comprised of 11 members, 4 of whom shall be designated by the
  290  applicant, 4 of whom shall be designated by the Florida
  291  Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, and 3 of whom shall be
  292  designated by the other 8 directors, with at least 1 of these 3
  293  members being an authorized representative of another
  294  thoroughbred permitholder in this state. The not-for-profit
  295  corporation shall submit an application to the division for
  296  review and approval of the transfer in accordance with s.
  297  550.054. Upon approval of the transfer by the division, and
  298  notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
  299  not-for-profit corporation may, within 1 year after its receipt
  300  of the permit, request that the division convert the quarter
  301  horse racing permit to a permit authorizing the holder to
  302  conduct pari-mutuel wagering meets of thoroughbred racing.
  303  Neither the transfer of the quarter horse racing permit nor its
  304  conversion to a limited thoroughbred permit shall be subject to
  305  the mileage limitation or the ratification election as set forth
  306  under s. 550.054(2) or s. 550.0651. Upon receipt of the request
  307  for such conversion, the division shall timely issue a converted
  308  permit. The converted permit and the not-for-profit corporation
  309  shall be subject to the following requirements:
  310         (d) Racing under the permit may take place only at the
  311  location for which the original quarter horse racing permit was
  312  issued, which may be leased by the not-for-profit corporation
  313  for that purpose; however, the not-for-profit corporation may,
  314  without the conduct of any ratification election pursuant to s.
  315  550.054(13) or s. 550.0651, move the location of the permit to
  316  another location in the same county provided that such
  317  relocation is approved under the zoning and land use regulations
  318  of the applicable county or municipality.
  319         Section 4. Subsections (4) and (11) of section 551.102,
  320  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  321         551.102 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
  322         (4) “Eligible facility” means any licensed pari-mutuel
  323  facility located in Miami-Dade County or Broward County existing
  324  at the time of adoption of s. 23, Art. X of the State
  325  Constitution which that has conducted live racing or games
  326  during calendar years 2002 and 2003 and has been approved by a
  327  majority of voters in a countywide referendum to have slot
  328  machines at such facility in the respective county; any licensed
  329  pari-mutuel facility located within a county as defined in s.
  330  125.011, if provided such facility has conducted live racing for
  331  2 consecutive calendar years immediately preceding its
  332  application for a slot machine license, pays the required
  333  license fee, and meets the other requirements of this chapter;
  334  or any licensed pari-mutuel facility in any other county in
  335  which a majority of voters have approved slot machines at such
  336  facilities in a countywide referendum held pursuant to a
  337  specific statutory or constitutional authorization that
  338  authorizes the county to conduct a slot machine referendum where
  339  the authorization is enacted after the effective date of this
  340  section for in the respective county, if provided such facility
  341  has conducted a full schedule of live racing for 2 consecutive
  342  calendar years immediately preceding its application for a slot
  343  machine license, pays the required licensed fee, and meets the
  344  other requirements of this chapter. Slot machine gaming may take
  345  place only at an eligible facility and only at the location for
  346  which the original pari-mutuel permit was issued. If the
  347  underlying permit is moved, the new location is not eligible for
  348  a slot machine license. A slot machine license may not be
  349  transferred.
  350         (11) “Slot machine licensee” means a pari-mutuel
  351  permitholder who holds a license issued by the division pursuant
  352  to this chapter that authorizes such person to possess a slot
  353  machine within facilities specified in s. 23, Art. X of the
  354  State Constitution and allows slot machine gaming.
  355         Section 5. Subsection (2) of section 551.104, Florida
  356  Statutes, is amended to read:
  357         551.104 License to conduct slot machine gaming.—
  358         (2) The division may approve an application may be approved
  359  by the division only after the voters of the county where the
  360  applicant’s facility is located have authorized by referendum
  361  slot machines within pari-mutuel facilities in that county as
  362  specified in s. 23, Art. X of the State Constitution or only for
  363  a facility that is located in a county as defined in s. 125.011.
  364         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

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