An Act To Protect the Integrity of Funding for Harness Racing Purses
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1680
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: MAREAN, COLLINS, DILL, KINNEY, PARRY, SANBORN, FLOOD, VALENTINO
Amends: 8 MRSA §272-B, 8 MRSA §272-C, 8 MRSA §275-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1680 
H.P. 1203 
House of Representatives, December 30, 2013 
An Act To Protect the Integrity of Funding for Harness Racing 
Purses 
(EMERGENCY) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative MAREAN of Hollis. 
Cosponsored by Senator COLLINS of York and 
Representatives: DILL of Old Town, KINNEY of Limington, PARRY of Arundel, SANBORN 
of Gorham, Senators: FLOOD of Kennebec, VALENTINO of York. 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, this legislation needs to take effect before the expiration of the 90-day 
period in order to provide protection for funds used to pay purses in harness horse racing 
as soon as possible; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  8 MRSA §272-B, first ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 211, §1 
and affected by §2, is amended to read: 
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, up to 3% of funds designated to 
supplement purses may be paid to a statewide association of horsemen in accordance with 
this section. A statewide association of horsemen, referred to in this section as "the 
association," means an association of horsemen qualified as a tax-exempt organization 
under 26 United States Code, Section 501(c)(6) before January 1, 2007 whose officers are 
authorized by the membership to negotiate with a person licensed to conduct racing under 
section 271 on behalf of the association’s membership.  
Sec. 2.  8 MRSA §272-C is enacted to read: 
§272-C.  Trust account 
1.  Establishment; deposits.  A licensee conducting live racing in the State shall 
establish a trust account for the benefit of the persons who race horses at that licensee's 
facility.  All funds that by statute must be used to pay purses must be deposited in that 
account and used exclusively to pay purses, including all funds distributed to or retained 
by the licensee to pay or supplement purses or to fund the association pursuant to section 
272-B. 
2.  Payment if licensee fails to conduct racing.  If a licensee fails to conduct a race 
meet during a calendar year, all funds held in the trust account established under this 
section by that licensee must be returned to the commission, which shall return to the 
licensee any amount that represented a reimbursement that equaled an overpayment of 
purses.  Any remaining balance of the trust account must be redistributed by the 
commission to the trust accounts of all racetracks that continue to conduct live racing in 
the State, with each track receiving that portion of money determined by multiplying the 
amount of money available for redistribution by a fraction, the numerator of which is the 
number of race dates at that racing venue during the prior calendar year and the 
denominator of which is the total number of race dates throughout the State during that 
year, except that those funds received by a licensee pursuant to section 298 must be 
returned to the fund to supplement harness racing purses established in section 298 and 
must be distributed according to that section. 
Sec. 3.  8 MRSA §275-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2003, c. 401, §10, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Commercial track.  "Commercial track" means a harness horse racing track 
licensed under this chapter to conduct harness horse racing with pari-mutuel wagering 
that: 
A.  If the population of the region is 300,000 or more, based on the 1990 U.S. 
Census, conducted racing on more than 100 days in each of the previous 2 calendar 
years, except that if a racetrack that qualifies as a commercial track under this 
paragraph ceases operation, a separate racetrack operated by the owner or operator of 
the racetrack that ceased operation qualifies as a commercial track, and for all 
purposes is considered the same commercial track as the track that ceased operation, 
if the population of the region of that separate racetrack is 300,000 or more, based on 
the 1990 U.S. Census, and the sum of the number of days on which racing was 
conducted at the track that ceased operation and the number of days on which racing 
was conducted at the separate racetrack equals at least 100 days in each of the 2 
preceding calendar years.  If a racetrack that qualifies as a commercial track under 
this paragraph ceases operation, one new racetrack opening in a region with a 
population of 300,000 or more qualifies as a commercial track if it conducts racing on 
at least 100 days in a calendar year.  Days on which racing was conducted by the 
racetrack that ceases operation count toward the 100 days required of the new 
racetrack; or 
B.  If the population of the region is less than 300,000, based on the 1990 U.S. 
Census, conducted racing on more than 25 days in each of the previous 2 calendar 
years, except that if a racetrack that qualifies as a commercial track under this 
paragraph ceases operation, a separate racetrack operated by the owner or operator of 
the racetrack that ceased operation qualifies as a commercial track, and for all 
purposes is considered the same commercial track as the track that ceased operation, 
if the population of the region of that separate racetrack is less than 300,000, based on 
the 1990 U.S. Census, and the sum of the number of days on which racing was 
conducted at the track that ceased operation and the number of days on which racing 
was conducted at the separate racetrack equals at least 26 days in each of the 2 
preceding calendar years.  If a racetrack that qualifies as a commercial track under 
this paragraph ceases operation, one new racetrack opening in a region with a 
population of less than 300,000 qualifies as a commercial track if it conducts racing 
on more than 25 days in a calendar year. Days on which racing was conducted by the 
racetrack that ceases operation count toward the more than 25 days required of the 
new racetrack. 
For the purposes of this subsection, "region" is determined by measuring a distance of 50 
miles from the center of the racing track along the most commonly used roadway, as 
determined by the Department of Transportation, drawing a circle around the center of 
the racing track using that 50-mile measurement and excluding those municipalities or 
unorganized territories that do not have boundaries contained entirely by that circle. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires a person licensed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation 
and Forestry, State Harness Racing Commission to conduct harness horse racing to 
establish a trust account for the benefit of the persons who race horses at that licensee's 
facility.  All funds that by statute must be used to pay purses must be deposited in that 
account and used exclusively to pay purses.  If a licensee fails to conduct a race meet 
during a calendar year, all remaining funds held in the trust account established by that 
licensee must be returned to the commission and redistributed by the commission to the 
trust accounts of all racetracks that continue to conduct racing.  It also requires a 
statewide association of horsemen to have been qualified as a tax-exempt organization 
under federal law before January 1, 2007 in order to be eligible to receive funds 
designated to supplement purses.  It allows one new racetrack to replace a commercial 
track that closes.