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(c) Conditions of races under subsection (b) shall be |
commensurate
with past performance, quality and class of |
Illinois conceived and
foaled horses available. If, however, |
sufficient competition cannot be
had among horses of that class |
on any day, the races may, with consent
of the Board, be |
eliminated for that day and substitute races provided.
|
(d) There is hereby created a special fund of the State |
Treasury to
be known as the Illinois Standardbred Breeders |
Fund.
|
During the calendar year 1981, and each year thereafter, |
except as provided
in subsection (g) of Section 27 of this Act, |
eight and one-half
per cent of all the monies received by the |
State as privilege taxes on
harness racing meetings shall be |
paid into the Illinois Standardbred
Breeders Fund.
|
(e) The Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund shall be |
administered by
the Department of Agriculture with the |
assistance and advice of the
Advisory Board created in |
subsection (f) of this Section.
|
(f) The Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund Advisory Board |
is hereby
created. The Advisory Board shall consist of the |
Director of the
Department of Agriculture, who shall serve as |
Chairman; the
Superintendent of the Illinois State Fair; a |
member of the Illinois
Racing Board, designated by it; a |
representative of the largest association of Illinois |
standardbred owners and breeders, recommended by it; a
|
representative of a statewide association representing |
|
agricultural fairs in Illinois,
recommended by it, such |
representative to be from a fair at which
Illinois conceived |
and foaled racing is conducted; a representative of
the |
organization licensees conducting harness racing
meetings, |
recommended by them; a representative of the Breeder's |
Committee of the association representing the largest number of |
standardbred owners, breeders, trainers, caretakers, and |
drivers, recommended by it;
and a representative of the |
association representing the largest number of standardbred |
owners, breeders, trainers, caretakers, and drivers,
|
recommended by it. Advisory Board members shall serve for 2 |
years
commencing January 1 of each odd numbered year. If |
representatives of
the largest association of Illinois |
standardbred owners and breeders, a statewide association of |
agricultural fairs in Illinois, the association representing |
the largest number of standardbred owners, breeders, trainers, |
caretakers, and drivers, a member of the Breeder's Committee of |
the association representing the largest number of |
standardbred owners, breeders, trainers, caretakers, and |
drivers, and the organization licensees conducting
harness |
racing meetings
have not been recommended by January 1 of each |
odd numbered year, the
Director of the Department of |
Agriculture shall make an appointment for
the organization |
failing to so recommend a member of the Advisory Board.
|
Advisory Board members shall receive no compensation for their |
services
as members but shall be reimbursed for all actual and |
|
necessary expenses
and disbursements incurred in the execution |
of their official duties.
|
(g) No monies shall be expended from the Illinois |
Standardbred
Breeders Fund except as appropriated by the |
General Assembly. Monies
appropriated from the Illinois |
Standardbred Breeders Fund shall be
expended by the Department |
of Agriculture, with the assistance and
advice of the Illinois |
Standardbred Breeders Fund Advisory Board for the
following |
purposes only:
|
1. To provide purses for races limited to Illinois |
conceived and
foaled horses at the State Fair.
|
2. To provide purses for races limited to Illinois |
conceived and
foaled horses at county fairs.
|
3. To provide purse supplements for races limited to |
Illinois
conceived and foaled horses conducted by |
associations conducting harness
racing meetings.
|
4. No less than 75% of all monies in the Illinois |
Standardbred
Breeders Fund shall be expended for purses in |
1, 2 and 3 as shown above.
|
5. In the discretion of the Department of Agriculture |
to provide
awards to harness breeders of Illinois conceived |
and foaled horses which
win races conducted by organization |
licensees
conducting harness racing meetings.
A breeder is |
the owner of a mare at the time of conception. No more
than |
10% of all monies appropriated from the Illinois
|
Standardbred Breeders Fund shall
be expended for such |
|
harness breeders awards. No more than 25% of the
amount |
expended for harness breeders awards shall be expended for
|
expenses incurred in the administration of such harness |
breeders awards.
|
6. To pay for the improvement of racing facilities |
located at the
State Fair and County fairs.
|
7. To pay the expenses incurred in the administration |
of the
Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund.
|
8. To promote the sport of harness racing.
|
(h) Whenever the Governor finds that the amount in the |
Illinois
Standardbred Breeders Fund is more than the total of |
the outstanding
appropriations from such fund, the Governor |
shall notify the State
Comptroller and the State Treasurer of |
such fact. The Comptroller and
the State Treasurer, upon |
receipt of such notification, shall transfer
such excess amount |
from the Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund to the
General |
Revenue Fund.
|
(i) A sum equal to 12 1/2% of the first prize money of |
every purse
won by an Illinois conceived and foaled horse shall |
be paid by the
organization licensee conducting the horse race |
meeting to the breeder
of such winning horse from the |
organization licensee's share of the
money wagered.
Such |
payment
shall not reduce any award to the owner of
the horse or |
reduce the taxes payable under this Act. Such payment
shall be |
delivered by the organization licensee at the end of each race
|
meeting.
|
|
(j) The Department of Agriculture shall, by rule, with the
|
assistance and advice of the Illinois Standardbred Breeders |
Fund
Advisory Board:
|
1. Qualify stallions for Illinois Standardbred |
Breeders Fund breeding; such stallion
shall be owned by a |
resident of the State of Illinois or by an Illinois
|
corporation all of whose shareholders, directors, officers |
and
incorporators are residents of the State of Illinois. |
Such stallion shall
stand for
service at and within the |
State of Illinois at the time of a foal's
conception, and |
such stallion must not stand for service at any place, nor
|
may semen from such stallion be transported,
outside the |
State of Illinois during that calendar year in which the
|
foal is conceived and that the owner of the stallion was |
for the
12
months prior, a resident of Illinois. However, |
from January 1, 2018 until January 1, 2022, semen from an |
Illinois stallion may be transported outside the State of |
Illinois.
The articles of agreement of any partnership, |
joint venture, limited
partnership, syndicate, association |
or corporation and any bylaws and stock
certificates must |
contain a restriction that provides that the ownership or
|
transfer of interest by any one of the persons a party to |
the agreement can
only be made to a person who qualifies as |
an Illinois resident.
|
2. Provide for the registration of Illinois conceived |
and foaled
horses and no such horse shall compete in the |
|
races limited to Illinois
conceived and foaled horses |
unless registered with the Department of
Agriculture. The |
Department of Agriculture may prescribe such forms as
may |
be necessary to determine the eligibility of such horses. |
No person
shall knowingly prepare or cause preparation of |
an application for
registration of such foals containing |
false information.
A mare (dam) must be in the State at |
least 30 days prior to foaling or
remain in the State at |
least 30 days at the time of foaling. However, the |
requirement that a mare (dam) must be in the State at least |
30 days before foaling or remain in the State at least 30 |
days at the time of foaling shall not be in effect from |
January 1, 2018 until January 1, 2022.
Beginning with the |
1996 breeding season and for foals of 1997 and thereafter,
|
a foal conceived by transported semen may be eligible for |
Illinois
conceived and foaled registration provided all |
breeding and foaling
requirements are met. The stallion |
must be qualified for Illinois Standardbred
Breeders Fund |
breeding at the time of conception and the mare must be
|
inseminated within the State of Illinois. The foal must be |
dropped in Illinois
and properly registered with the |
Department of Agriculture in accordance with
this Act. |
However, from January 1, 2018 until January 1, 2022, the |
requirement for a mare to be inseminated within the State |
of Illinois and the requirement for a foal to be dropped in |
Illinois are inapplicable.
|
|
3. Provide that at least a 5-day 5 day racing program |
shall be conducted
at the State Fair each year, unless an |
alternate racing program is requested by the Illinois |
Standardbred Breeders Fund Advisory Board, which program |
shall include at least the
following races limited to |
Illinois conceived and foaled horses: (a) a
two year old |
Trot and Pace, and Filly Division of each; (b) a three
year |
old Trot and Pace, and Filly Division of each; (c) an aged |
Trot and Pace,
and Mare Division of each.
|
4. Provide for the payment of nominating, sustaining |
and starting
fees for races promoting the sport of harness |
racing and for the races
to be conducted at the State Fair |
as provided in
subsection (j) 3 of this Section provided |
that the nominating,
sustaining and starting payment |
required from an entrant shall not
exceed 2% of the purse |
of such race. All nominating, sustaining and
starting |
payments shall be held for the benefit of entrants and |
shall be
paid out as part of the respective purses for such |
races.
Nominating, sustaining and starting fees shall be |
held in trust accounts
for the purposes as set forth in |
this Act and in accordance with Section
205-15 of the |
Department of Agriculture Law (20 ILCS
205/205-15).
|
5. Provide for the registration with the Department of |
Agriculture
of Colt Associations or county fairs desiring |
to sponsor races at county
fairs.
|
(k) The Department of Agriculture, with the advice and |
|
assistance of the
Illinois
Standardbred Breeders Fund Advisory |
Board, may allocate monies for purse
supplements for such |
races. In determining whether to allocate money and
the amount, |
the Department
of Agriculture shall consider factors, |
including but not limited to, the
amount of money appropriated |
for the Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund
program, the number |
of races that may occur, and an organizational
licensee's purse |
structure. The organizational licensee shall notify the
|
Department of Agriculture of the conditions and minimum purses |
for races
limited to Illinois conceived and foaled horses to be |
conducted by each
organizational licensee conducting a harness |
racing meeting for which purse
supplements have been |
negotiated.
|
(l) All races held at county fairs and the State Fair which |
receive funds
from the Illinois Standardbred Breeders Fund |
shall be conducted in
accordance with the rules of the United |
States Trotting Association unless
otherwise modified by the |
Department of Agriculture.
|
(m) At all standardbred race meetings held or conducted |
under authority of a
license granted by the Board, and at all |
standardbred races held at county
fairs which are approved by |
the Department of Agriculture or at the
Illinois or DuQuoin |
State Fairs, no one shall jog, train, warm up or drive
a |
standardbred horse unless he or she is wearing a protective |
safety helmet,
with the
chin strap fastened and in place, which |
meets the standards and
requirements as set forth in the 1984 |
|
Standard for Protective Headgear for
Use in Harness Racing and |
Other Equestrian Sports published by the Snell
Memorial |
Foundation, or any standards and requirements for headgear the
|
Illinois Racing Board may approve. Any other standards and |
requirements so
approved by the Board shall equal or exceed |
those published by the Snell
Memorial Foundation. Any |
equestrian helmet bearing the Snell label shall
be deemed to |
have met those standards and requirements.
|
(Source: P.A. 99-756, eff. 8-12-16; 100-777, eff. 8-10-18.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
|