Senate Bill No. 678
(By Senators Love and Facemyer)
____________
[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §19-23-13 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally to the disposition of
funds from 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 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 from
thoroughbred racetracks 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 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. that earns a purse to any West Virginia meet shall
receive an award calculated as a percentage of the fund dedicated to the owners which shall be sixty percent of the fund available
for distribution in any one month. The total amount available for
the owner's award shall be distributed according to the ratio of
purses earned by the eligible horse to the total amount earned in
the races by all submitted claims for race horses for that month as
a percentage of the fund dedicated to the owners. The Commission
may require proof that the owner was, at the time of the race, a
bona fide resident of this state. 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; and
(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 that earns a purse in any race at a West Virginia meet
shall receive an award calculated as a percentage of the fund
dedicated to the breeder which shall be fifteen percent of the fund available for distribution in any month. The total amount
available for the breeders' awards shall be distributed according
to the ratio of purses earned by the eligible horse in the race to
the total purses earned in the races by all submitted claims for
race horses for that month as a percentage of the fund dedicated to
the breeders; 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 that earns a
purse in any race at a West Virginia meet shall receive an award
calculated as a percentage of the fund dedicated to stallion owners
which shall be twenty-five percent of the fund available for
distribution in any one month. The total amount available for the
stallion award shall be distributed according to the ratio of
purses earned by the eligible horse to the total amount earned in
the races by all submitted claims for race horses for that month as
a percentage of the fund dedicated to stallion owners; 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 All claims for awards as described in
subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) shall be submitted to the Racing
Commission no later than the fifteenth calendar day succeeding the
month in which the race was conducted: Provided, That payment on
the claim shall be made not later than the twenty-fifth calendar
day succeeding the month in which the race was conducted; and
(5) When The moneys in the special account, from the greyhound
tracks, known as the West Virginia Racing Commission Special
Account - Unredeemed Pari-mutuel Tickets 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 shall be expended if available by the West Virginia
Racing Commission as follows:
(A) Transfer annually, if available, two three hundred
thousand dollars to the West Virginia Racing Commission Special
Account - West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund;
(B) Transfer annually, if available, 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 two hundred 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, from
the moneys received from the greyhound racetracks, shall have
authority to transfer, if available, one hundred fifty thousand
dollars left from all uncashed pari-mutuel tickets 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 modify the disposition
of funds from West Virginia Racing Commission Special Account -
Unredeemed Pari-Mutuel Tickets.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.