Section 19501.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1) Professional jockeys are vital to the horse racing industry and the work they perform is very dangerous.

(2) The minimum wage that jockeys receive in a horse race is established by the board as a minimum jockey riding fee. Jockeys may earn additional compensation if the horse they are racing is a winning mount, a second place mount, or a third place mount.

(3) The minimum jockey riding fee has not kept up with inflation or the cost of living. Since 1970, the state minimum wage has increased at more than twice the rate that the average jockey riding fee increased over the same period.

(4) The riding fee should be increased at least as much on a percentage basis as the state minimum wage, so that the average full-time jockey can earn an income sufficient to provide for the basic necessities of life.

(b) (1) Effective January 1, 2010, the scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts established by the board shall be increased by ten dollars ($10) per mount from the rate in effect on December 31, 2009. Effective January 1, 2012, the scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts established by the board shall be increased by ten dollars ($10) per mount from the rate in effect on December 31, 2011, except the three lowest fees on the scale shall be increased by five dollars ($5) per mount. Thereafter, the scale of minimum jockey riding fees for losing mounts shall be increased whenever the state minimum wage is increased by the percentage of that increase.

(2) Effective January 1, 2010, the minimum amount awarded to the jockey who finishes second or third in a race shall be increased by ten dollars ($10) over the amount required to be paid on December 31, 2009. Effective January 1, 2012, the minimum amount awarded to the jockey who finishes second or third in a race shall be increased by five dollars ($5) over the amount required to be paid on December 31, 2011. This subdivision shall apply to races in which the purse is nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine dollars ($9,999) or less.

(c) No jockey shall be paid less than the minimum jockey riding fees established pursuant to this section.

(d) Nothing in this section prohibits the board from increasing the minimum jockey riding fee above the minimum level required by this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 296, Sec. 22. Effective January 1, 2012.)