ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
VETOED
county fairs; breeders’
awards; revenues
Purpose
Increases the funding distribution to several racing related funds from pari-mutuel racing revenues and monies received from unclaimed and abandoned property.
Background
Current state law requires
pari-mutuel revenues paid to the state by commercial racing operations to be
distributed to eight funds that support county fairs, horse racing, greyhound
adoptions and agricultural consulting and training programs. Seven of the eight
funds have a statutory cap on the amount of money that each may receive in
either a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the funds available,
whichever is less.
Briefly, regarding the funds receiving monies:
¨ The Arizona county fairs racing betterment fund provides payments for
purses to county fair horsemen and county fair racing operators.
¨ The county fairs livestock and agriculture promotion fund, which is
administered by a committee appointed by the Governor, benefits county fairs
and the Arizona National Livestock Show.
¨ The Arizona breeders= award
fund provides payments to breeders of successful Arizona-bred horses and
greyhounds.
¨ The Arizona stallion award fund pays awards to owners of Arizona
stallions that sire successful Arizona bred horses.
¨ The county fair racing fund pays for Department of Racing staff to
oversee county fair racing.
¨ The agricultural consulting and training fund, which funds programs
within the Department, provides consultative services to the agricultural
community.
¨ The Arizona exposition and state fair fund maintains monies for capital
outlay purposes.
Legislation enacted in 1996
requires 20 percent of the monies received from unclaimed and abandoned
property be allocated to these funds that receive state pari-mutuel revenues
(Laws 1996, Chapter 353). The total
amount is distributed on a percentage basis to meet minimum funding levels for
the seven funds. In 1999, legislation
was passed and sent to the Governor that would have allowed these funds to
receive either the specified minimum dollar amount or a percentage of the total
funds available, whichever is more.
This would have allowed these funds to receive an additional $2.1
million in revenues from the unclaimed and abandoned property revenues that
otherwise would have reverted to the state general fund. Governor Jane Hull vetoed this legislation
because the fiscal impact of the bill was being deferred past the biennial
budget cycle.
S.B. 1325 maintains the cap
on the distribution of pari-mutuel racing revenues and the unclaimed and
abandoned property proceeds to the racing related funds, however it increases
the capped dollar amount for several funds beginning in FY 2002-2003. The fiscal impact of these modifications is
an additional distribution of $800,000 annually from the unclaimed and
abandoned property proceeds beginning in FY 2002-2003.
In
her veto message, the Governor stated because current state revenue projections
indicate that the general fund is over committed, it would be irresponsible to
divert monies away from the general fund.
Provisions
1. Increases the capped dollar amounts to be distributed among three specified race related funds starting in FY 2002-2003. The increases are as follows:
· Arizona county fairs racing betterment fund, from $800,000 to $1,112,000.
· County fairs livestock and agriculture promotion fund, from $1,200,000 to $1,680,000.
· Racing administration fund, from $45,000 to $53,000.
2. Stipulates that monies credited in excess of $300,000 in any fiscal year to the county fairs racing fund be distributed as follows: 75 percent to the Arizona county fairs racing betterment fund and 25 percent to the Arizona breeders’ award fund.
3. Provides for a general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by the Appropriations Committee
Establishes a $3 million cap in FY 2001-2002 on monies from the unclaimed property fund to be eligible for distribution to the seven racing related funds. Provides that from FY 2002-2003 and on, all eligible monies from the unclaimed property fund (20 percent) are to be dispersed to the race related funds and no monies will revert back to the general fund.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
Makes a technical change to correct an incorrect reference.
Amendments Adopted by the House of Representatives
1.
Reverts
the revenue distribution to the seven specified race related funds back to a
capped dollar amount rather than the greater of the dollar amount or the
specified percentage amount.
2.
Increases
the capped dollar amounts to be distributed among three specified race related
funds starting in FY 2002-2003. The
funds affected and the dollar amount increases are as follows:
§
Arizona
county fairs racing betterment fund increases from $800,000 to $1,112,000.
§
County
fairs livestock and agriculture promotion fund increases from $1,200,000 to
$1,680,000.
§
Racing
administration fund increases from $45,000 to $53,000.
Senate Action House Action
NRAE 2/15/01 DP 7-0-1-0 APPROP 4/18/01 DPA 9-2-2-3-0
APPROP 3/6/01 DPA 10-0-2-0 3rd Read 4/25/01 36-22-2-0
3rd Read 3/15/01 25-4-1-0
Final Read 5/1/01 21-7-2-0
Vetoed by Governor 5/4/01
Prepared by Senate Staff
May 17, 2001