H.B. No. 2701

	AN ACT
	relating to the regulation of horse and dog racing.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 1.03, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subdivisions
	(36) and (53) and adding Subdivision (79) to read as follows:
	(36)  "Trainer" means a person who is licensed by the
	commission to train racehorses or greyhounds.
	(53)  "Judge" means a racing official with general
	authority and supervision over:
	(A)  the conduct of a licensed race meeting; and
	(B)  all licensees at a racetrack during a race
	meeting [an executive official of a greyhound racetrack].
	(79)  "Executive director" means the executive
	secretary of the Texas Racing Commission.
	SECTION 2.  Section 2.12, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection
	(a-1) to read as follows:
	(a-1)  The commission and the executive secretary may use the
	title "executive director" for any purpose in referring to the
	office of executive secretary.
	SECTION 3.  Section 3.16(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  The commission [may require prerace testing and] shall
	require [postrace] testing to determine whether a prohibited
	substance has been used.  The testing may be prerace or postrace as
	determined by the commission. The testing may be by an invasive or
	noninvasive method. The commission's rules shall require
	state-of-the-art testing methods.
	SECTION 4.  Section 5.01, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (d)
	to read as follows:
	(d)  The commission by rule shall set fees in amounts
	reasonable and necessary to cover the commission's costs of
	regulating, overseeing, and licensing live and simulcast racing at
	racetracks.
	SECTION 5.  Section 5.03(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  If a complete set of fingerprints is required by the
	commission, the commission shall, not later than the 10th business
	[next] day after the date the commission receives [receiving] the
	prints, forward the prints to the Department of Public Safety or the
	Federal Bureau of Investigation.  If the prints are forwarded to the
	Department of Public Safety, the department shall classify the
	prints and check them against its fingerprint files and shall
	report to the commission its findings concerning the criminal
	record of the applicant or the lack of such a record.  A racetrack
	license may not be issued until the report is made to the
	commission.  A temporary occupational license may be issued before
	a report is made to the commission.
	SECTION 6.  Section 6.06, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection
	(h) and adding Subsections (j) and (k) to read as follows:
	(h)  A person may not own more than a five percent interest in
	more than three [two] racetracks licensed under this Act.
	(j)  Notwithstanding any other law, a person who owns an
	interest in two or more racetracks licensed under this Act and who
	also owns an interest in a license issued under Subtitle B, Title 3,
	Alcoholic Beverage Code, may own an interest in the premises of
	another holder of a license or permit under Title 3, Alcoholic
	Beverage Code, if the premises of that other license or permit
	holder are part of the premises of a racetrack licensed under this
	Act.
	(k)  The commission shall review the ownership and
	management of a license issued under this article every five years
	beginning on the fifth anniversary of the issuance of the license.
	In performing the review, the commission may require the license
	holder to provide any information that would be required to be
	provided in connection with an original license application under
	Article 5 of this Act or this article.  The commission shall charge
	fees for the review in amounts sufficient to implement this
	subsection.
	SECTION 7.  Section 6.09(c), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  On each racing day, the association shall pay[:
	[(1)]  the fee due the state to the comptroller[; and
	[(2)     the 50 percent of the breakage due the state to
	the commission].
	SECTION 8.  Section 6.091(a), Texas Racing Act (Article
	179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
	follows:
	(a)  An association shall distribute from the total amount
	deducted as provided by Sections 6.08(a) and 6.09(a) of this Act
	from each simulcast pari-mutuel pool and each simulcast
	cross-species pool the following shares:
	(1)  [(A) until January 1, 1999, an amount equal to 0.25
	percent of each simulcast pari-mutuel pool and each simulcast
	cross-species simulcast pool as the amount set aside to reimburse
	the general revenue fund for amounts that are appropriated for the
	administration and enforcement of this Act and that are in excess of
	the cumulative amount of funds deposited in the Texas Racing
	Commission fund, until the excess amount and interest on the excess
	amount are fully reimbursed;
	[(B)]  an amount equal to one percent of each
	simulcast pool as the amount set aside for the state; [and]
	(2) [(C)]  an amount equal to 1.25 percent of each
	simulcast cross-species [simulcast] pool as the amount set aside
	for the state;
	[(2)     an amount equal to 0.25 percent of each pool set
	aside to reimburse the general revenue fund for amounts that are
	appropriated for the administration and enforcement of this Act and
	that are in excess of the cumulative amount of funds deposited in
	the Texas Racing Commission fund, until the excess amount and
	interest on the excess amount are fully reimbursed;]
	(3)  if the association is a horse racing association,
	an amount equal to one percent of a multiple two wagering pool or
	multiple three wagering pool as the amount set aside for the
	Texas-bred program to be used as provided by Section 6.08(f) of this
	Act;
	(4)  if the association is a greyhound association, an
	amount equal to one percent of a multiple two wagering pool or a
	multiple three wagering pool as the amount set aside for the
	Texas-bred program for greyhound races, to be distributed and used
	in accordance with rules of the commission adopted to promote
	greyhound breeding in this state; and
	(5)  the remainder as the amount set aside for purses,
	expenses, the sending association, and the receiving location
	pursuant to a contract approved by the commission between the
	sending association and the receiving location.
	SECTION 9.  Section 6.13(b), Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  Each transaction that involves an acquisition or a
	transfer of a pecuniary interest in the association must receive
	prior approval from the commission. A transaction that changes the
	ownership of the association requires submission of updated
	information of the type required to be disclosed under Subsection
	(a) of Section 6.03 of this Act and payment of a fee to recover the
	costs of the criminal background check.
	SECTION 10.  Section 6.16(a), Texas Racing Act (Article
	179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
	follows:
	(a)  An association may not employ any person who has been a
	member of the commission, the executive secretary of the
	commission, or an employee employed by the commission in a position
	in the state employment classification plan of grade 12 or above, or
	any person related within the second degree by affinity or the third
	degree by consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
	Government Code [Article 5996h, Revised Statutes], to such a member
	or employee, during the one-year [two-year] period immediately
	preceding the employment by the association.
	SECTION 11.  Section 11.07, Texas Racing Act (Article 179e,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection
	(a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
	(a)  A person who claims to be entitled to any part of a
	distribution from a pari-mutuel pool [and who fails to claim the
	money due the person before the completion of the race meeting at
	which the pool was formed] may, not later than the first anniversary
	of the [60th] day the ticket was purchased [after the closing day of
	the meeting], file with the association a claim for the money
	together with a substantial portion of the pari-mutuel ticket
	sufficient to identify the association, race, and horse or
	greyhound involved and sufficient to show the amount wagered and
	the type of ticket.
	(a-1)  A person who claims to be entitled to money from a
	pari-mutuel voucher may before the first anniversary of the day the
	voucher was issued file with the association a claim for the money
	together with a substantial portion of the pari-mutuel voucher
	sufficient to identify the association, the serial number, the date
	issued, and the amount of the voucher.
	SECTION 12.  Sections 6.19 and 11.08, Texas Racing Act
	(Article 179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
	SECTION 13.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2701 was passed by the House on May
	11, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 117, Nays 22, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2701 on May 25, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 111, Nays 25,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2701 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 23, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
	1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor