H. B. 3185
(By Delegate DeLong)
[Introduced February 22, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §19-23-13 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to pro rata distribution of moneys
from the West Virginia Racing Commission Special Account -
Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §19-23-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. ARTICLE 23. HORSE AND DOG RACING.
§19-23-13. Disposition of funds for payment of outstanding and
unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets; publication of
notice; irredeemable tickets; stake races for dog
tracks.
(a) All moneys held by any licensee for the payment of
outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, if not claimed
within ninety days after the close of a horse or dog race meeting
or the televised racing day, as the case may be, in connection with
which the tickets were issued, shall be turned over by the licensee
to the racing commission within fifteen days after the expiration
of the ninety-day period, and the licensee shall give any information required by the racing commission concerning the
outstanding and unredeemed tickets. The moneys shall be deposited
by the racing commission in a banking institution of its choice in
a special account to be known as "West Virginia Racing Commission
Special Account - Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets." Notice of the
amount, date and place of each deposit shall be given by the racing
commission, in writing, to the state treasurer. The racing
commission shall then cause to be published a notice to the holders
of the outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, notifying
them to present their unredeemed tickets for payment at the
principal office of the racing commission within ninety days from
the date of the publication of the notice. The notice shall be
published within fifteen days following the receipt of the
outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel ticket moneys by the
commission from the licensee as a Class I legal advertisement in
compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine
of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be
the county in which the horse or dog race meeting was held and the
county in which the televised racing day wagering was conducted in
this state.
(b) Any outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets that
are not presented for payment within ninety days from the date of
the publication of the notice are thereafter irredeemable, and the
moneys theretofore held for the redemption of the pari-mutuel
tickets shall become the property of the racing commission and
shall be expended as provided in this subsection. The racing
commission shall maintain separate accounts for each licensee and
shall record in each separate account the moneys turned over by the licensee and the amount expended at the licensee's track for the
purposes set forth in this subsection. The moneys in the West
Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-mutuel
tickets shall be expended as follows:
(1)
To the owner of the winning horse in any horse race at a
horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee: Provided,
That the owner of the horse is at the time of the horse race a bona
fide resident of this state, a sum calculated as follows: a sum
equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse at that race:
Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races
in any performance, the award to the resident owner of the winning
horse will be that fractional share of the purse with a numerator
of one and a denominator representing the number of races on the
day of the performance. Seventy-five percent of the moneys
deposited into the unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets account each
calendar year, where not subject to redemption under subsection
(a)above, shall be set aside for annual payments described in this
subdivision. From these moneys, equal awards shall be available
for each: the owner of the winning horse in each horse race at any
horse race meeting held or conducted by any licensee, if the owner
of the horse is at the time of the horse race a bona fide resident
of this state; the breeder (that is, the owner of the mare) of any
such winning horse, if the mare foaled in this state; and the owner
of the stallion which sired any such winning horse, if the stallion
stands and is registered in this state. All claims for awards
shall be submitted to the racing commission no later than the
fifteenth calendar day succeeding the month in which the race was
conducted. Payment shall be made no later than the fifteenth day of February in the year succeeding the year in which the race was
conducted, with awards calculated and distributed to claimants in
equal, fractional shares from the moneys available based on the
receipts of the prior calendar year. Nothing herein shall be
construed as limiting any qualified owner, breeder or sire to a
single claim in any calendar year. The commission may require
proof that the owner of the winning horse was, at the time of the
race, a bona fide resident of this state
; Provided, That the
resident status of the owner shall have no effect on the
entitlement of the breeder or sire to an award. Upon proof by the
owner that he or she filed a personal income tax return in this
state for the previous two years and that he or she owned real or
personal property in this state and paid taxes in this state on
real or personal property for the previous two years, he or she
shall be presumed to be a bona fide resident of this state.
(2)
To the breeder (that is, the owner of the mare) of the
winning horse in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or
conducted by any licensee: Provided, That the mare foaled in this
state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse:
Provided, however, That in the event there are more than ten races
in any performance, the award to the breeder will be that
fractional share of the purse with a numerator of one and a
denominator representing the number of races on the day of the
performance; and
(3) To the owner of the stallion which sired the winning horse
in any horse race at a horse race meeting held or conducted by any
licensee: Provided, That the mare which foaled the winning horse
was served by a stallion standing and registered in this state, a sum equal to ten percent of the purse won by the horse: Provided,
however, That in the event there are more than ten races in any
performance, the award to the owner of the stallion will be
percentage of the purse based upon the fractional share represented
by the number of races on the day of the performance; and
(4) To those horse racing licensees not participating
in the thoroughbred development fund authorized in section
thirteen-b of this article, the unexpended balance of the
licensee's account not expended as provided in subdivisions (1),
(2) and (3) of this subsection: Provided, That all moneys
distributed under this subdivision shall be expended solely for
capital improvements at the licensee's track: Provided, however,
That the capital improvements must be approved, in writing, by the
West Virginia racing commission before funds are expended by the
licensee for that capital improvement; and
(5) When the The moneys in the special account known as the
West Virginia racing commission special account - unredeemed pari-
mutuel tickets
shall then be expended, if available, by the West
Virginia racing commission in the following order of priority:
will more than satisfy the requirements of subdivisions (1), (2),
(3) and (4) of this subsection, the West Virginia racing commission
shall have the authority to expend the excess moneys from
unredeemed horse racing pari-mutuel tickets as purse money in any
race conditioned exclusively for West Virginia bred or sired
horses, and to expend the excess moneys from unredeemed dog racing
pari-mutuel tickets in supplementing purses and establishing stake
races and dog racing handicaps at the dog tracks: Provided, That
subject to the availability of funds, the commission shall, after the requirements of subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this
subsection have been satisfied:
(A) Transfer annually two hundred thousand dollars to the West
Virginia racing commission special account - West Virginia
greyhound breeding development fund;
(B) Transfer annually two hundred thousand dollars into a
separate account to be used for stakes races for West Virginia bred
greyhounds at dog racetracks; and
(C) Transfer annually one hundred fifty thousand dollars to a
trust maintained and administered by the organization which is
recognized by the West Virginia racing commission, pursuant to a
legislative rule proposed for promulgation by the commission and
authorized by the Legislature, as the representative of the
majority of the active jockeys in West Virginia, for the purpose of
providing health and disability benefits to eligible active or
disabled West Virginia jockeys and their dependents in accordance
with eligibility criteria established by said organization. For
purposes of this section in determining health benefits, an
eligible active jockey is one who rides at least one hundred mounts
per calendar year of which fifty-one must be in the state of West
Virginia:
Provided, That a jockey is not eligible for health
benefits if he or she receives health benefits from any other
state; and
(D) After all payments to satisfy the requirements of (A), (B)
and (C) of this proviso have been satisfied, the commission shall
have authority to transfer one hundred fifty thousand dollars left
from all uncashed pari-mutuel tickets
and received from the
greyhound racetracks to the trust maintained and administered by the organization which is recognized by the West Virginia racing
commission, pursuant to legislative rule proposed for promulgation
by the commission and authorized by the Legislature as the
representative of the majority of the active jockeys in West
Virginia.
(c) The commission shall submit to the legislative auditor a
quarterly report and accounting of the income, expenditures and
unobligated balance in the special account created by this section
known as the West Virginia racing commission special account -
unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets.
(d) Nothing contained in this article shall prohibit one
person from qualifying for all or more than one of the aforesaid
awards or for awards under section thirteen-b of this article.
(e) The cost of publication of the notice provided for in this
section shall be paid from the funds in the hands of the state
treasurer collected from the pari-mutuel pools' tax provided for in
section ten of this article, when not otherwise provided in the
budget; but no such costs shall be paid unless an itemized account
thereof, under oath, be first filed with the state auditor.
(f) The racing commission is authorized to promulgate
emergency rules, prior to the first day of July, two thousand four,
to incorporate the revisions to this article enacted during the two
thousand four regular legislative session.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reconfigure the
distribution of moneys from the West Virginia Racing Commission
Special Account - Unredeemed Pair-Mutuel Tickets.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
present law; underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.