SENATE, No. 1761

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Sponsored by:

Senator  VIN GOPAL

District 11 (Monmouth)

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes fund to care for retired horses and improve track safety.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

An Act concerning the establishment of the Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund and supplementing chapter 5 of Title 5 of the Revised Statutes.

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    a.  There is established in the Department of the Treasury a special, nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund." The fund shall be a repository for any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of certain horses at a claiming race.  The claiming sales tax revenue in each calendar year shall be deposited into the General Fund, pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1966, c.30 (C:54:32B-3).  Monies in the Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund shall be held by the State Treasurer and made available for the purposes designated under subsection c. of this section.

     b.    Upon the establishment of the Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund, there shall be established two subaccounts therein as the thoroughbred subaccount for retired horses and track safety and the standardbred subaccount for retired horses and track safety.  Any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of a thoroughbred horse at a claiming race shall be deposited into the thoroughbred subaccount.  Any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of a standardbred horse at a claiming race shall be deposited into the standardbred subaccount.

     c.     Amounts in the special fund shall be expended by the commission for the care of retired horses and any measures, as defined by the commission, to improve the health and safety of horses, drivers, and jockeys at a racetrack.  Fifty percent of monies from each subaccount of the Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund shall be used for grants to organizations which care for retired race horses and fifty percent shall be used for improving safety measures at racetracks. The fund shall be administered by the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Chairperson of the New Jersey Racing Commission.

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     Under current law, P.L.1993, c.226 (C.54:32B-7.1), the State of New Jersey collects a 6.625 percent sales tax on the initial "claim" or sale of a racehorse at a "claiming" race in a calendar year.  Thereafter, for horses subsequently claimed within that calendar year, the purchaser of the horse pays a 6.625 percent sales tax each time the horse is claimed, but is entitled to a refund from the State so that the tax is effectively applied only on the portion of the sales price that exceeds the highest of any prior sales price paid for the same horse that year.

     This bill establishes a special, nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund" in the Department of the Treasury.  The fund will be a repository for any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of certain horses at a claiming race.  The claiming sales tax revenue in each calendar year will continue to be deposited into the General Fund.  However, the tax revenue amounts will be held by the State Treasurer and made available to the New Jersey Racing Commission. 

     The Retired Horses and Track Safety Fund will consists of two subaccounts, the thoroughbred subaccount for retired horses and track safety and the standardbred subaccount for retired horses and track safety.  Any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of a thoroughbred horse at a claiming race will be deposited into the thoroughbred subaccount and any sales tax revenue in each calendar year from the sale of a standardbred horse at a claiming race will be deposited into the standardbred subaccount.  Fifty percent of the amounts in each subaccount would be expended by the commission exclusively for the care of retired horses and 50 percent for any measures, as defined by the commission, to improve the health and safety of horses, standardbred drivers, and thoroughbred jockeys at a racetrack.