An Act To Preserve Agricultural Fairs in Rural Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0924
Committee Amendment CA_A_H227 (House)
Amends: 8 MRSA §298

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,,4 " to H.P. 699, L.D. 924, Bill, "An Act To 
Preserve Agricultural Fairs in Rural Maine" 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 2 by inserting at the end a new blocked 
paragraph as follows: 
'This subsection is repealed December 31, 2009.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 1 the following: 
'Sec. 2. 8 MRSA §298, sub-§2-A is enacted to read: 
2-A. Distribution. On April 30th, July 30th, October 30th and January 30th of each 
year, all amounts credited to the fund established by this section as of the last day of the 
preceding month and not distributed before that day must be distributed to each 
commercial track, as defined in section 275-A, subsection 1, to each agricultural fair 
licensee that conducts live racing on fair dates assigned by the commissioner pursuant to 
Title 7, section 84 and to each agricultural fair licensee that conducts an extended meet as 
long as that licensee conducted an extended meet in 2005, with each commercial track 
and each agricultural fair licensee receiving an amount of money determined by 
multiplying the amount of money available for distribution by a fraction, the numerator of 
which is the total number of live race dashes assigned to the commercial track or 
agricultural fair licensee for the year and the denominator of which is the total number of 
race dashes assigned to all commercial tracks and agricultural fair licensees for the year. 
The payment in January must be adjusted so that for the prior year each commercial track 
or agricultural fair licensee entitled to a distribution receives that portion of the total 
money distributed for the full year from the fund established by this section that is 
determined by multiplying the total amount of money by a fraction, the numerator of 
which is the number of live race dashes conducted by the commercial track or agricultural 
fair licensee during the calendar year that qualify for a distribution and the denominator 
of which is the total number of race dashes conducted during that calendar year that 
qualify for a distribution. For purposes of this subsection, a race dash qualifies for 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A " 
to H.P. 699, L.D. 924 
distribution if the dash was conducted by a commercial track or by an agricultural fair 
licensee on dates assigned under Title 7, section 84 or during an extended meet. The 
funds distributed pursuant to this subsection must be used to supplement harness racing 
purses. 
This subsection takes effect December 31, 2009. 
Sec. 3. Retroactivity. This Act applies retroactively to January 1,2007.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment enables agricultural fairs that held extended harness racing meets in 
1998 to share in the revenues generated by the racino until the end of 2009. At that point 
eligibility to share in revenue reverts to agricultural fairs that held extended harness 
racing meets in 2005. This amendment also adds a retroactivity clause to the bill. 
FISCAL :\OTE REQI mED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Approved: 05107 107 
~ac::.. 
LD924 
LR 1692(02) 
An Act To Preserve Agricultural Fairs in Rural Maine 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment" A" 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
No net fiscal impact 
The redistribution ofracino revenue dedicated to agricultural fairs will not affect the total amount of revenue 
distributed for this purpose. 
LRI692(02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of I