§ 173.3. Participation at meetings and voting.
(a) Majority vote. Except as provided in subsection (b), an action by the Commission to suspend, revoke, or to refuse to renew any license previously issued by the Commission or its staff, to impose a fine or penalty for violation of the rules of racing or to take any other administrative action as deemed necessary and appropriate by the Commission will require a majority vote of all the Commissioners.
(b) Qualified majority vote.
(1) Thoroughbred matters. A qualified majority vote consisting of the two Commissioners appointed under section 9311(b)(1)(i) and (ii) of the act (relating to State Horse Racing Commission) and as many votes of the remaining voting Commissioners as necessary to constitute a majority of those Commissioners voting shall be required to:
(i) Approve, issue, deny or condition a license to conduct Thoroughbred horse race meetings under section 9318 of the act (relating to licenses for horse race meetings).
(ii) Adopt regulations governing Thoroughbred horse race meetings under this section.
(iii) Employ a director of the Bureau of Thoroughbred Horse Racing under section 9311(d)(2) of the act.
(2) Standardbred matters. A qualified majority vote consisting of the two Commissioners appointed under section 9311(b)(1)(iii) and (iv) of the act and as many votes of the remaining voting Commissioners as necessary to constitute a majority of those Commissioners voting shall be required to:
(i) Approve, issue, deny or condition a license to conduct Standardbred horse race meetings under section 9318 of the act.
(ii) Adopt rules and regulations governing Standardbred horse race meetings under this section.
(iii) Employ a director of the Bureau of Standardbred Horse Racing under section 9311(d)(2) of the act.
(3) Commissioners appointed under section 9311(b)(1)(i) and (ii) of the act shall be disqualified and must abstain from voting on any Standardbred matter under paragraph (2).
(4) Commissioners appointed under section 9311(b)(1)(iii) and (iv) of the act shall be disqualified and must abstain from voting on any Thoroughbred matter under paragraph (1).
(c) Participation. A Commissioner may not participate in a hearing, proceeding or other matter in which the Commissioner or the immediate family thereof, has a financial interest in the subject matter of the hearing or proceeding or other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the hearing or proceeding, without first fully disclosing the nature of the interest to the Commission and other persons participating in the hearing or proceeding.
(d) Disqualifying interest. If a Commissioner has a disqualifying interest in a voting matter, the Commissioner shall disclose the nature of the disqualifying interest, disqualify himself or herself and abstain from voting in a proceeding in which the Commissioner’s objectivity, impartiality, integrity or independence of judgment may be reasonably questioned, including instances where the Commissioner knows that the Commissioner possesses a substantial financial interest in the subject matter of the proceeding or an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.
(e) Commissioner abstention. When disqualified, the Commissioner’s abstention from voting will apply only to the singular voting matter that led to the disqualification and not apply to other matters under consideration by the Commission for which the Commissioner is otherwise qualified.
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