An Act To Protect the Integrity of Funding for Harness Racing Purses
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1680
Committee Amendment CA_A_H654 (House)
Amends: 8 MRSA §272-B, 8 MRSA §275-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A " 
to H.P. 1203, L.D. 1680, Bill, "An Act To 
Protect the Integrity of Funding for Harness Racing Purses" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
emergency clause and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §272-B, first~, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 211, § 1 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 a majority of the membership of which is 
composed of owners, trainers and drivers or any combination of owners, trainers and 
drivers who are licensed by the commission and whose officers are authorized by the 
membership to negotiate with a person licensed to conduct racing under section 271 on 
behalf ofthe association's membership. 
Sec. 2. 8 MRS A §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. 
Except as provided by subsection 3, funds distributed to or retained by the 
licensee pursuant to sections 287, 289, 290, 292 and 298 and Title 7, section 91, less any 
administrative assessments pursuant to section 267 -A, that must be used to payor 
supplement harness racing purses must be deposited in that account and used exclusively 
to pay harness racing purses. The funds in a trust account established in accordance with 
this subsection are not considered to be property of the licensee, may not be pledged as 
security for the debts of the licensee and are not subject to attachment or execution by 
creditors of the licensee. 
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 
.. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "~" to H.P. 1203, L.D. 1680 
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 
harness racing 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 facility 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 
and must be distributed according to that section. 
3. 
Limited interim use of funds permitted. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a 
licensee, solely for the purpose of funding racing operations, may during the period from 
January 1st to April 30th make use of funds that otherwise would be in a trust account 
established pursuant to subsection 1 if the following conditions are met: 
A. The amount of the funds to be used is approved in writing by the association 
described in section 272-B; 
B. The licensee provides the executive director of the commission written notice of 
the amount of funds to be used and the written approval from the association under 
paragraph A to use the funds; 
C. The executive director of the commission certifies that the licensee is likely to 
receive disbursements from the funds established under sections 295 and 299 and 
Title 7, section 91 within 120 days; and 
D. Funds used are repaid to the trust account established pursuant to subsection 1 no 
later than 10 days from the May 30th distribution to the licensee under section 295, 
subsection 2 and section 299, subsection 2. 
This subsection is repealed June 30, 2017. 
Sec. 3. 8 MRSA §275-A, suh-§l, 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; eI' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT '/1" to H.P. 1203, L.D. 1680 
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 years7~ 
C. Began operation after January 1, 2014 in a region with a population of 300,000 or 
l3 
more, based on the 1990 U.S. Census, to replace a commercial track as defined by 
paragraph A that ceased operation after January 1, 2014 and for which no separate 
racetrack has been opened by the owner or operator of that commercial track that 
ceased operation. For purposes of this paragraph, a racetrack is not required to have 
conducted racing during the 2 preceding calendar years but is required to conduct 
racing on at least 100 days during each calendar year after the track is initially 
licensed as a commercial track. If a commercial track under this paragraph has not 
been granted 100 race days by the commission for the initial calendar year of 
operation, race days conducted during that year by the commercial track that ceased 
operation after January 1, 2014 are credited to the replacement commercial track; or 
D. Began operation after January 1, 2014 in a region with a popUlation of less than 
300,000, based on the 1990 U.S. Census, to replace a commercial track as defined by 
paragraph B that ceased operation after January 1, 2014 and for which no separate 
racetrack has been opened by the owner or operator of that commercial track that 
ceased operation. For purposes of this paragraph, a racetrack is not required to have 
conducted racing during the 2 preceding calendar years but is required to conduct 
racing on at least 25 days during each calendar year after the track is initially licensed 
as a commercial track. If a commercial track under this paragraph has not been 
granted 25 race days by the commission for the initial calendar year of operation, race 
days conducted during that year by the commercial track that ceased operation after 
January 1, 2014 are credited to the replacement commercial track. 
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. 
Sec. 4. 8 MRS A §276-B is enacted to read: 
§276-B. Commercial track ceases operation; entitled to funds 
Other than funds used exclusively to pay harness racing purses, a commercial track 
that ceases operation is entitled to distribution of all funds maintained by the State under 
this chapter based on the number of race days conducted by that commercial track.' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1203, L.D. 1680 
SUMMARY 
This amendment removes the requirement proposed in the bill that a statewide 
association of horsemen qualify as a tax-exempt organization under federal law before 
January 1,2007 in order to be eligible to receive funds designated to supplement harness 
racing purses. The amendment requires instead that a majority of the membership of a 
statewide association of horsemen be composed of owners, trainers and drivers or any 
combination of owners, trainers and drivers licensed by the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry, State Harness Racing Commission in order to be eligible to 
receive funds designated to supplement harness racing purses. 
The amendment specifies which funds used to pay harness racing purses must be 
deposited into a licensee's trust account for the benefit of persons who race horses. The 
amendment also provides that funds in the trust account are not considered to be property 
of the licensee, may not be pledged as security for the debts of the licensee and are not 
subject to attachment or execution by creditors of the licensee. The amendment provides 
that a licensee, solely for the purpose of funding racing operations, may make interim use 
of the funds in the trust account if certain conditions are met. 
The amendment clarifies that if one new racetrack replaces a commercial track that 
ceases operations, the new racetrack is not required to have conducted racing during the 
preceding 2 calendar years but is required to conduct racing during each calendar year 
after initial licensure. 
The amendment also provides that if one new racetrack replaces a commercial track 
that ceases operations, the racetrack that ceases operations is entitled to distribution of 
funds maintained by the State based on the number of days on which racing was 
conducted, not including funds used exclusively to pay harness racing purses. 
FISCAL ~OTE REQLlH..ED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 02128114 frac. 
LD 1680 
LR 2568(02) 
An Act To Protect the Integrity of Funding for Harness Racing Purses 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '~' [H -ti50 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Any costs to the State Harness Racing Commission under the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
to monitor and redistribute certain purse revenues to various racetracks are expected to be minor and can be absorbed 
within existing budgeted resources. 
LR2568(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1