republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/ab-3261.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Horse racing: out-of-state thoroughbred races."
description: "The Horse Racing Law authorizes a thoroughbred racing association or fair to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state thoroughbred races conducted in the United States during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting a race meeting, including days on which there is no live racing being conducted by the association or fair, without the consent of the organization that represents horsemen and horsewomen participating in the race meeting and without regard to the amount of purses. Existing law prohibits the total number of thoroughbred races imported by associations or fairs on a statewide basis under these provisions from exceeding 50 races per day on days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being conducted in the state, with the exception of prescribed races."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 3261"
citation: "California AB 3261 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Horse racing", "out-of-state thoroughbred races"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mike Fong"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-02-16"
last_action: "2024-09-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7e17187a-3987-4b61-9c66-5cc692f85083"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261"
source_hash: "543ef94ec8dacb43e5a876781b2972f6f8cb68d1fd584f19fdcd4146e0fc4cb1"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 3261 (20232024) — Horse racing: out-of-state thoroughbred races.

The Horse Racing Law authorizes a thoroughbred racing association or fair to distribute the audiovisual signal and accept wagers on the results of out-of-state thoroughbred races conducted in the United States during the calendar period the association or fair is conducting a race meeting, including days on which there is no live racing being conducted by the association or fair, without the consent of the organization that represents horsemen and horsewomen participating in the race meeting and without regard to the amount of purses. Existing law prohibits the total number of thoroughbred races imported by associations or fairs on a statewide basis under these provisions from exceeding 50 races per day on days when live thoroughbred or fair racing is being conducted in the state, with the exception of prescribed races.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/16/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326199INT)
2. **04/24/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326198AMD)
3. **06/19/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326197AMD)
4. **08/28/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326196AMD)
5. **09/22/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326194CHP)
6. **AB3261** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261)
7. **09/05/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB3261&version=20230AB326195ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB3261 Mike Fong et al. By Rubio — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 3261 Mike Fong Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **74–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 3261 Mike Fong Consent Calendar Second Day — **71–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **20–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mike Fong — primary (person)
- Rubio — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-02-16** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2024-02-17** From printer. May be heard in committee March 18.
- **2024-03-11** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-23** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 20. Noes 0.) (April 17). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2024-04-24** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-04-25** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-08** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 8). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-09** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-05-16** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 71. Noes 0.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-05-16** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2024-05-29** Referred to Com. on G.O. `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-11** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-19** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-07-01** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2024-07-02** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-07-03** From Consent Calendar.
- **2024-07-03** Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Rubio.
- **2024-08-28** Joint Rule 61 suspended. (Ayes 31. Noes 8.)
- **2024-08-28** From inactive file.
- **2024-08-28** Ordered to second reading.
- **2024-08-28** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-29** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-08-31** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2024-08-31** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 74. Noes 0.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-09-16** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2024-09-22** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-09-22** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 439, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7e17187a-3987-4b61-9c66-5cc692f85083`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).