CA SB 397
deadHorse racing: thoroughbred racing.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper
Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.
Quick answers
Did CA SB 397 pass?
No. CA SB 397 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process. Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
What is CA SB 397 about?
Existing law authorizes the California Horse Racing Board to regulate horse racing and parimutuel wagering on horse races in California, and authorizes the board to set the standards for the types of races that may be run and the types of horses that may be run, within statutory guidelines. Existing law authorizes the board to grant licenses to an association other than a fair for only one type of racing, but provides an exception for the board to authorize thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses to enter in quarter horse races shorter than 5 furlongs at specified meetings, subject to specified conditions. This bill would change the above-described exception to instead authorize thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses to enter in quarter horse races at any distance. Existing law authorizes an association licensed to conduct quarter horse racing to apply to the board for, and requires the board to grant, authority to conduct thoroughbred racing as part of its racing program if specified conditions are met, including that the thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more than $5,000, and at a distance of 4.5 furlongs or less. This bill would change the above-described condition to instead provide that the thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more than $6,000, at any distance.
Who sponsors CA SB 397?
Strickland is the primary sponsor of CA SB 397.
Description
Existing law authorizes the California Horse Racing Board to regulate horse racing and parimutuel wagering on horse races in California, and authorizes the board to set the standards for the types of races that may be run and the types of horses that may be run, within statutory guidelines. Existing law authorizes the board to grant licenses to an association other than a fair for only one type of racing, but provides an exception for the board to authorize thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses to enter in quarter horse races shorter than 5 furlongs at specified meetings, subject to specified conditions. This bill would change the above-described exception to instead authorize thoroughbred and Appaloosa horses to enter in quarter horse races at any distance. Existing law authorizes an association licensed to conduct quarter horse racing to apply to the board for, and requires the board to grant, authority to conduct thoroughbred racing as part of its racing program if specified conditions are met, including that the thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more than $5,000, and at a distance of 4.5 furlongs or less. This bill would change the above-described condition to instead provide that the thoroughbred races are for a claiming price of not more than $6,000, at any distance.
- Introduced
- 2025-02-14
- Latest action
- 2026-02-02 — Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Stricklandauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-02-02
Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
failure
2025-04-02
Re-referred to Com. on G.O.
referral-committee
2025-03-24
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-02-26
Referred to Com. on RLS.
referral-committee
2025-02-18
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 17.
2025-02-14
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
introduction,reading-1,referral-committee
Versions
Documents
Votes
Not provided by source.
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=CA&identifier=SB 397. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.