Senate Engrossed
2025-2026; amusements
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
2025
SENATE BILL 1736
AN ACT
amending sections 5-113.01, 5-226 and 5-230, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to amusements.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 5-113.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE5-113.01. Racing regulation fund; exemption
The racing regulation fund is established. All revenues derived from permittees, permits and licenses pursuant to this article and section 5-230 and any grants or donations received by the department shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the racing regulation fund. The department shall administer the racing regulation fund. Monies in the racing regulation fund are subject to legislative appropriation and are to be used by the department to support the mission of the department. The racing regulation fund is exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 5-226, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE5-226. Levy of tax on gross receipts; disposition; verification and financial audit; definition
A. Any person who promotes a boxing contest in this state pursuant to this article shall comply with rules adopted pursuant to this article and shall within ten days after the contest pay to the department four percent of the gross receipts, after the deduction of city, state and federal taxes, of the match or exhibition.
B. The department shall verify the gross receipts of a contest. The director may require a person licensed under this article to supply a certified financial audit to the department. The director shall adopt rules that require each person licensed under this article to select a certified public accountant to conduct the financial audit. The financial statements prepared pursuant to this section shall be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and shall include any additional schedules the director requires. A person subject to a financial audit under this section shall afford reasonable and needed facilities and make returns and exhibits to the department in the form and at the time prescribed by the director.
C. The department of gaming shall establish an unarmed combat subaccount within the racing regulation fund established by section 5-113.01. At the end of each month the director of the department of gaming shall report to the department of administration the total amount received under this chapter from all sources, including license fees, and shall deposit that amount, excluding license fees, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the unarmed combat subaccount of the racing regulation fund.
D. A promoter may issue complimentary tickets that are exempt from taxation pursuant to this title. If a promoter issues complimentary tickets, the exemption from taxation applies to two percent of the total number of tickets issued for the event or seventy-five tickets, whichever is greater.
E. The department shall collect and account for revenues for the commission, including license fees required by section 5-230, the levy of the tax on gross receipts imposed by this section and the cash bond or surety bond deposited pursuant to section 5-229. The director shall report and deposit all revenues collected pursuant to this subsection, from whatever source, pursuant to subsection C of this section, except that license fees required by section 5-230 shall be deposited in the racing regulation fund established by section 5-113.01. The director shall adopt rules as necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.
F. For the purposes of this section, "gross receipts" means all receipts from the face value of tickets sold. END_STATUTE
Sec. 3. Section 5-230, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE5-230. License fees; expiration; renewal; medical examinations
A. The commission may establish and issue annual licenses and may establish and collect fees for those licenses. The commission shall deposit the license fees in the unarmed combat subaccount in the racing regulation fund established by section 5-226.
B. A license expires at midnight three hundred sixty-five days after the date of issuance and may be renewed on filing an application for renewal of a license with the commission and payment of the license fee prescribed in subsection A of this section. The application for renewal of a license shall be on a form provided by the commission. There is a thirty-day grace period during which a license may be renewed if a late filing penalty fee equal to the license fee is submitted with the regular license fee. A licensee that files late shall not conduct any activity regulated by this chapter until the commission has renewed the license. If the licensee fails to apply to the commission within the thirty-day grace period, the licensee must apply for a new license pursuant to subsection A of this section.
C. The results of all combatant medical examinations expire three hundred sixty-five days after the date the medical examination is performed. The commission may grant a grace period of up to fifteen days to align with the licensing period. END_STATUTE
Sec. 4. Department of gaming; regulatory assessment; pari-mutuel pool
Notwithstanding any other law, in fiscal year 2025-2026, the department of gaming shall establish and collect a regulatory assessment from each commercial racing permittee, payable from amounts deducted from pari-mutuel pools by the permittee, in addition to the amounts the permittee is authorized to deduct pursuant to section 5-111, subsection B, Arizona Revised Statutes, from amounts wagered on live and simulcast races from in-state and out-of-state wagering handled by the permittee, in the amount of 0.5 percent of the amounts wagered.
Sec. 5. Department of gaming; horse racing; gate approval; timed workouts; delayed repeal
A. Notwithstanding any other law, for race meetings in the years 2025 and 2026, the department of gaming may allow a first-time starter horse to race as long as the horse has gate approval and at least two timed workouts. One of the timed workouts shall be an out-of-the-gate workout that is conducted within sixty days of the race in which the horse is entered.
B. This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2026.
Sec. 6. Liquor producers and wholesalers; on-sale retailers; temporarily extended premises; sponsorship; advertising; delayed repeal
A. Notwithstanding any other law, through June 30, 2027, a liquor producer or liquor wholesaler may sponsor and provide advertising to a licensed on-sale retailer in connection with a concert that is held at a temporary extension of the on-sale retailer's licensed premises if the on-sale retailer's temporarily extended premises meets both of the following:
1. Has an occupancy of more than one thousand persons.
2. Is located adjacent to a multipurpose facility as defined in section 5-801, Arizona Revised Statutes.
B. This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2027.