Whereas, the breeding season for horses begins February 15th; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §281, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 1999, c. 482, §4, is further amended to read:

The commission, by rule, may define a strain of Maine Standardbred, bred or owned in the State of Maine which must be the offspring of a stallion registered with the department to stand in the State during a given breeding season and must be registered with the department in its registry book. The commission is also authorized to establish necessary fees for horses and races in the establishment of a Maine Standardbred program, the funds from which must be administered by the department by deposit in a trust account entitled Sire Stakes Fund. All disbursements from the fund must be for the purposes of supplementing purses, costs of administration and any other appropriate expenses incurred by the department. A report must be submitted annually by the executive director to the commissioner setting forth an itemization of all deposits to and expenditures from the fund.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill alters the definition of a Maine Standardbred horse.