State aid to local fairs and regulation of horse racing. (FE)

Also under current law, a person who enters a horse in a race held by an agricultural society must pay an entrance fee. If the person does not pay the fee, the society may bring suit against the person, and the horse is not exempt from attachment in a collection action. Current law also prohibits a person from falsifying the name of a horse entered in a race or concealing the horse's racing performance history.

This bill eliminates the foregoing provisions.

Other changes to fair regulation Current law limits the amount of the entry fee that may be charged for an exhibit at an agricultural fair or exhibition. Current law also requires an agricultural society that receives state aid for a fair to install an accounting system approved by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), and to publish, within 120 days after the fair, a financial statement showing the organization's financial condition before and after the fair. In addition, current law requires the Department of Administration to audit the financial reports of an entity that has operated a local fair before providing state aid to the entity for that fair.

This bill eliminates the foregoing provisions.

Current law prohibits restrictions on the number of fairs in which an exhibitor may participate while remaining eligible for premium state aid award. This bill allows an entity operating a fair to limit the total number of fairs at which an exhibitor may participate and still be eligible for a premium award at that entity's fair.

This bill also changes the deadline for the filing of financial reports relating to a local fair from the December 31 of the year in which the fair is held to the January 31 following the year in which the fair is held.

Finally, current law provides that DATCP and the principal officers of the Northern Wisconsin state fair, a county agricultural society, or an industrial society have full jurisdiction and control over their fair grounds. This bill removes DATCP and the principal officers of the Northern Wisconsin state fair or an industrial society from these provisions and provides this authority only to county agricultural societies.