Proposed New Jersey Bill: Calls for Four-Man Racing Board, Each With ,500 Annual Salary.; Only Four Tracks Will Be Permitted to Operate, Each for 35 Days of Racing--Mutuel Take to Be 10 Per Cent., Daily Racing Form, 1939-07-21

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PROPOSED NEW JERSEY BILL Calls for FourMan Racing Board Each With 7500 Annual Salary Only Four Tracks Will Be Permitted to toOperate Operate Each for 35 Days of Kacing Mutuel Take to Be 10 Per Cent TRENTON N J July 20 A proposed bill to control parimutuel betting on horse racing in the state of New Jersey was sent today to Attorney General David T Wilentz by a special joint committee of state sena ¬ tors and assemblymen The attorney general will pass on the constitutionality of the measure which will then be rechecked by the committee at the next legislative session on Aug 3 The final draft of the proposed bill which was completed by the committee late yester ¬ day calls for a fourmember racing commis ¬ sion of two Republicans and two Democrats these members to be appointed by the gov ¬ ernor subject to confirmation by Ihe state senate Each commissioner is to receive an annual salary of 7500 One member would serve two years another four years and two members will be elected for six years suc ¬ cessors to be named for the sixyear terms termsPBOVISIONS PBOVISIONS OF BILL BILLUnder Under the provisions of the proposed bill four tracks will be permitted to operate in the state at distances of at least forty miles from one another Racing will be permitted on week days from April 1 to Nov 30 a thirtyfiveday meeting being allowed at each track No provision has been made for harness races or fairs it being the opinion of the attorney generals office that a sep ¬ arate bill be drawn for that purpose The bill also proposes that the commission de ¬ cide whether two tracks be permitted to hold meetings simultaneously simultaneouslyAccording According to house majority leader Ros coe P McClave Bergen Republican the pro ¬ posed measure provides for a state take of 4 per cent plus an additional 6 per cent for the track operators The states share of the racing revenue is to be earmarked for unemployment relief an enabling act to be drafted to provide the necessary pro ¬ cedure cedureA A uniform admission charge of 150 is scheduled for the four tracks with free ducats held to a minimum The bill ex ¬ pressly provides that passes are to be dis ¬ tributed only to the press track operators horse owners and their employes The 150 admission is to be free from state tax taxLAKGE LAKGE FEE AND BOND BONDTrack Track operators are to have until Dec 15 to apply to the commission for racing dates for the following year A fO000 fee must accompany each application as well as a 100000 bond Commissioners also will be bonded at 25000 each while the boards sec ¬ retarytreasurer must post a 50000 bond This secretarytreasurer will be named by the commission which also will fix his sal ¬ ary aryThe The fourman commission will be empow ¬ ered to make its own rules governing the tracks and to select its own employes none of whom will be subject to civil service Each track will be required to employ a steward at 100 a day a supervisor of mu tuels at 50 a day and a track veterinarian at 25 a day These officials are to be se ¬ lected by the commission No other em ¬ ployes are specified in the bill It is further provided in the bill that 85 per cent of the permanent employes at the tracks must be Continued on tliirtyfifth page PROPOSED NEW JERSEY BILL Continued from third page residents of New Jersey for at least two years yearsA A 50000 state appropriation would finance the racing commission until June 30 1940 when receipts from the take would begin to pay expenses expensesREPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION OPPOSITIONWhile While Gov A Harry Moore and the Re ¬ publican bloc in the state senate favor the fourman bill considerable opposition is an ¬ ticipated on the floor of the senate from a group of Republicans who are expected to seek a fiveman board to be made up of three Republicans and two Democrats Copies of the proposed bill have been sent to legislators but Majority Leader McClave said there had been no thought of a public hearing on the bill The New Jersey Thor ¬ oughbred Horse Breeders Association had demanded a public hearing after the intro ¬ duction of any racing bill However Mc ¬ Clave added that the bill will be brought up at the presession caucus on Aug 3 by House Speaker Herbert J Pascoe Union County Republican The measure under consideration provides that horse breeders may be members of the commission but that persons having any financial interest in race tracks will be barred When first drafted by Assemblyman Vincent S Haneman of Atlantic County the bill set the minimum age limit of com ¬ mission members at 35 years This clause has since been altered as it was pointed out that Joseph M Roebling of Trenton a lead ¬ ing candidate for a place on the commission is only 31 The minimum age now has been dropped to 30 years yearsAdvocates Advocates of parimutuel racing in New Jersey have estimated that at least 5000 000 will be realized by the state for relief but committee members have indicated that they feel that figure is far too high


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1939072101/drf1939072101_3_2
Local Identifier: drf1939072101_3_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800