I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 351

To regulate interstate commerce with respect to parimutuel wagering on

greyhound racing, to maintain the stability of the greyhound racing

industry, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. SLATTERY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To regulate interstate commerce with respect to parimutuel

wagering on greyhound racing, to maintain the stability

of the greyhound racing industry, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interstate Greyhound

5 Racing Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that the States

8 should have the primary responsibility for determining
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1 what forms of greyhound racing may legally take place

2 within their borders.

3 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the Congress in this

4 Act to regulate interstate commerce in order to further

5 greyhound racing in the United States.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act—

8 (1) the term ‘‘concurrently operating tracks’’

9 means racing associations conducting parimutuel

10 greyhound racing at the same time of day (afternoon

11 against afternoon; nighttime against nighttime) as

12 the racing association conducting the greyhound rac13 ing which is the subject of an interstate off-track

14 wager;

15 (2) the term ‘‘dark days’’ means those days

16 when racing of the same type does not occur in an

17 off-track State within 60 miles of an off-track bet18 ting office during a race meeting, including a dark

19 weekday when such racing association or associa20 tions run on Sunday and days when a racing pro21 gram is scheduled but does not take place or cannot

22 be completed due to weather, strikes, and other fac23 tors not within the control of the off-track betting

24 system;
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1 (3) the term ‘‘greyhound owners’ group’’

2 means, with reference to the applicable host racing

3 association, the group which represents the majority

4 of owners of greyhounds racing in races subject to

5 the interstate off-track wager on any racing day;

6 (4) the term ‘‘host racing association’’ means

7 any person who, pursuant to a license or other per8 mission granted by the host State, conducts the

9 greyhound race subject to an interstate wager;

10 (5) the term ‘‘host racing commission’’ means

11 that person designated by State statute or, in the

12 absence of statute, by regulation with jurisdiction to

13 regulate the conduct of racing within the host State;

14 (6) the term ‘‘host State’’ means the State in

15 which the greyhound race subject to an interstate

16 wager takes place;

17 (7) the term ‘‘interstate off-track wager’’ means

18 a legal wager placed or accepted in one State with

19 respect to the outcome of a greyhound race taking

20 place in another State;

21 (8) the term ‘‘off-track betting office’’ means

22 any location within an off-track State at which off23 track wagers are accepted;

24 (9) the term ‘‘off-track betting system’’ means

25 any group which is in the business of accepting wa-
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1 gers on greyhound races at locations other than the

2 place where the greyhound race is run, which busi3 ness is conducted by the State or licensed or other4 wise permitted by State law;

5 (10) the term ‘‘off-track racing commission’’

6 means that person designated by State statute or, in

7 the absence of statute, by regulation with jurisdic8 tion to regulate ‘‘off-track’’ betting in that State;

9 (11) the term ‘‘off-track State’’ means the

10 State in which an interstate off-track wager is ac11 cepted;

12 (12) the term ‘‘on-track wager’’ means a wager

13 with respect to the outcome of a greyhound race

14 which is placed at the racetrack at which such grey15 hound race takes place;

16 (13) the term ‘‘parimutuel’’ means any system

17 whereby wagers with respect to the outcome of a

18 greyhound race are placed with, or in, a wagering

19 pool conducted by a person licensed or otherwise

20 permitted to do so under State law, and in which the

21 participants are wagering with each other and not

22 against the operator;

23 (14) the term ‘‘person’’ means any individual,

24 association, partnership, joint venture, corporation,

25 State or political subdivision thereof, department,
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1 agency, or instrumentality of a State or political

2 subdivision thereof, or any other organization or en3 tity;

4 (15) the term ‘‘race meeting’’ means those

5 scheduled days during the year a racing association

6 is granted permission by the appropriate State rac7 ing commission to conduct greyhound racing;

8 (16) the term ‘‘race day’’ means a full program

9 of races at a specified racing association on a speci10 fied day;

11 (17) the term ‘‘regular contractual process’’

12 means those negotiations by which the applicable

13 greyhound owners’ group and host racing association

14 reach agreements on issues regarding the conduct of

15 greyhound racing by the greyhound owners’ group at

16 the racing association;

17 (18) the term ‘‘special event’’ means the spe18 cific individual greyhound race which is deemed by

19 the off-track betting system to be of sufficient na20 tional significance and interest to warrant inter21 state off-track wagering on that event or events;

22 (19) the term ‘‘State’’ means each State of the

23 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com24 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or pos25 session of the United States;
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1 (20) the term ‘‘takeout’’ means that portion of

2 a wager which is deducted from or not included in

3 the parimutuel pool, and which is distributed to per4 sons other than those placing wagers;

5 (21) the term ‘‘terms and conditions’’ includes

6 the percentage which is paid by the off-track betting

7 system to the host racing association, the percentage

8 which is paid by the host racing association to the

9 greyhound owners’ group, as well as any arrange10 ments as to the exclusivity between the host racing

11 association and the off-track betting system; and

12 (22) the term ‘‘year’’ means calendar year.

13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION.

14 No person may accept an interstate off-track wager

15 except as provided in this Act.

16 SEC. 5. REGULATION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An interstate off-track wager may

18 be accepted by an off-track betting system only if consent

19 is obtained from—

20 (1) the host racing association, except that as

21 a condition precedent to such consent, such racing

22 association (except a not-for-profit racing association

23 in a State where the distribution of off-track betting

24 revenues in that State is set forth by law) shall have

25 a written agreement with the greyhound owners’
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1 group, under which such racing association may give

2 such consent, setting forth the terms and condi3 tions relating thereto, except that where the host

4 racing association has a contract with a greyhound

5 owners’ group on the date of enactment of this Act

6 which contains no provisions referring to interstate

7 off-track betting, the terms and conditions of such

8 then-existing contract shall be deemed to apply to

9 the interstate off-track wagers and no additional

10 written agreement need be entered into unless the

11 parties to such then-existing contract agree other12 wise. Where such provisions exist in such existing

13 contract, such contract shall govern. Where written

14 consents exist on the date of enactment of this Act

15 between an off-track betting system and the host

16 racing association providing for interstate off-track

17 wagers, or such written consents are executed by

18 these parties prior to the expiration of such then-ex19 isting contract, upon the expiration of such then-ex20 isting contract the written agreement of such grey21 hound owners’ group shall thereafter be required as

22 such condition precedent and as a part of the regu23 lar contractual process, and may not be withdrawn

24 or varied except in the regular contractual process.

25 Where no such written consent exists, and where
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1 such written agreement occurs at a racing associa2 tion which has a regular contractual process with

3 such greyhound owners’ group, such agreement by

4 the greyhound owners’ group may not be withdrawn

5 or varied except in the regular contractual process;

6 (2) the host racing commission; and

7 (3) the off-track racing commission.

8 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

9 (1) APPROVAL.—In addition to the requirement

10 of subsection (a), any off-track betting office shall

11 obtain the approval of—

12 (A) all concurrently operating tracks with13 in 60 miles of such off-track betting office; and

14 (B) if there are no concurrently operating

15 tracks within 60 miles, then the closest cur16 rently operating track in an adjoining State.

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding the provi18 sions of paragraph (1), any off-track betting office

19 in a State with at least 250 days of on-track pari20 mutuel greyhound racing a year may accept inter21 state off-track wagers for a total of 60 racing days

22 and 25 special events a year without the approval

23 required by paragraph (1) if with respect to such 60

24 racing days there is no racing of the same type at

25 the same time of day being conducted within the off-
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1 track betting State within 60 miles of the off-track

2 betting office accepting the wager or such racing

3 program cannot be completed. Excluded from such

4 60 days and from the consent required by paragraph

5 (1) may be dark days which occur during a regularly

6 scheduled race meeting in such off-track betting

7 State. In order to accept any interstate off-track

8 wager under the terms of the preceding sentence the

9 off-track betting office shall make identical offers to

10 any racing association described in subparagraph

11 (A) of paragraph (1). Nothing in this subparagraph

12 shall be construed to reduce or eliminate the neces13 sity of obtaining all the approvals required by sub14 section (a).

15 (c) TAKE OUT.—No parimutuel off-track betting sys16 tem may employ a takeout for an interstate wager which

17 is greater than the takeout for corresponding wagering

18 pools of off-track wagers on races run within the off-track

19 State unless such greater takeout is authorized by State

20 law in the off-track State.

21 SEC. 6. LIABILITY AND DAMAGES.

22 Any person accepting any interstate off-track wager

23 in violation of section 5 shall be civilly liable for damages

24 to the host State, the host racing association, and the
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1 greyhound owners’ group. Damages for each violation

2 shall be based on the total of off-track wagers as follows:

3 (1) If the interstate off-track wager was of a

4 type accepted at the host racing association, dam5 ages shall be in an amount equal to that portion of

6 the takeout which would have been distributed to the

7 host State, host racing association, and the grey8 hound owners’ group as if each such interstate off9 track wager had been placed at the host racing asso10 ciation.

11 (2) If such interstate off-track wager was of a

12 type not accepted at the host racing association, the

13 amount of damages shall be determined at the rate

14 of takeout prevailing at the off-track betting system

15 for that type of wager and shall be distributed ac16 cording to the same formula as in paragraph (1).

17 SEC. 7. CIVIL ACTION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The host State, the host racing

19 association, or the greyhound owners’ group may com20 mence a civil action against any person alleged to be in

21 violation of section 5, for injunctive relief to restrain viola22 tions and for damages in accordance with section 6.

23 (b) PARTIES.—In any civil action under subsection

24 (a), the host State, the host racing association, and grey-
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1 hound owners’ group, if not a party, shall be permitted

2 to intervene as a matter of right.

3 (c) TIME.—A civil action may not be commenced pur4 suant to subsection (a) more than 3 years after the discov5 ery of the alleged violation upon which such civil action

6 is based.

7 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be

8 construed to permit a State to be sued under subsection

9 (a) other than in accordance with its applicable laws.

10 SEC. 8. JURISDICTION AND VENUE.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi12 sion of law, the district courts of the United States shall

13 have jurisdiction over any civil action under section 7 with14 out regard to the citizenship of the parties or the

15 amount in controversy.

16 (b) VENUE.—A civil action under section 7 may be

17 brought in any district court of the United States for a

18 district located in the host State or the off-track State

19 and all process in any such civil action may be served in

20 any judicial district of the United States.

21 (c) CONCURRENT JURISDICTION.—The jurisdiction

22 of the district courts of the United States pursuant to this

23 section shall be concurrent with that of any State court

24 of competent jurisdiction located in the host State or the

25 off-track State.
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1 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment

3 of this Act and shall apply to any interstate off-track

4 wager accepted on or after such date of enactment.

Æ