H. B. 2115
(By Delegate Love)
[Introduced February 15, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve-b, article twenty-
three, chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
horse and dog racing; pari-mutuel wagering; and providing
that licensees pay one tenth of one percent of certain
commissions to the general fund of certain counties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve-b, article twenty-three, chapter
nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 23. HORSE AND DOG RACING.
§19-23-12b. Televised racing days; merging of pari-mutuel
wagering pools.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Televised racing day" means a calendar day, assigned by
the commission, at a licensed racetrack on which pari-mutuelbetting is conducted on horse or dog races run at racetracks
outside of the state which are broadcast by television at a
licensed racetrack and which day or days have had the prior
written approval of the representative of the majority of the
owners and trainers who hold permits required by section two of
this article; and
(2) "Host racing association" means any person who, pursuant
to a license or other permission granted by the host state,
conducts the horse or dog race subject to the interstate wager.
(b) A licensee conducting not less than two hundred twenty
live racing dates for each horse or dog race meeting may, with
the prior approval of the state racing commission, contract with
any legal wagering entity in any other state to receive telecasts
and accept wagers on races conducted by the legal wagering
entity. The telecasts may be received and wagers accepted at any
location authorized by the provisions of section twelve-a of this
article. The contract must receive the approval of the
representative of the majority of the owners and trainers who
hold permits required by section two of this article at the
receiving racetrack.
(c) The commission may allow the licensee to commingle its
wagering pools with the wagering pools of the host racing
association. If the pools are commingled, the wagering at the
licensee's racetrack must be on tabulating equipment capable of
issuing pari-mutuel tickets and be electronically linked with the
equipment at the sending racetrack. Subject to the approval ofthe commission, the types of betting, licensee commissions and
distribution of winnings on pari-mutuel pools of the sending
licensee racetrack are those in effect at the licensee racetrack.
Breakage for pari-mutuel pools on a televised racing day must be
calculated in accordance with the law or rules governing the
sending racetrack and must be distributed in a manner agreed to
between the licensee and the sending racetrack.
(d) The commission may assign televised racing days at any
time. When a televised racing day is assigned, the commission
shall assign either a steward or an auditor to preside over the
televised races at the licensee racetrack.
(e) From the licensee commissions authorized by subsection
(c) of this section, the licensee shall pay one tenth of one
percent of each commission into the general fund of the county in
which the racetrack is located at which the wagering occurred and
there is imposed and the licensee shall pay, for each televised
racing day on which the total pari-mutuel pool exceeds one
hundred thousand dollars, the greater of either: (i) The total
of the daily license tax and the pari-mutuel pools tax required
by section ten of this article; or (ii) a daily license tax of
one thousand two hundred fifty dollars. For each televised
racing day on which the total pari-mutuel pool is one hundred
thousand dollars or less, the licensee shall pay a daily license
tax of five hundred dollars plus an additional license tax of one
hundred dollars for each ten thousand dollars, or part thereof,
that the pari-mutuel pool exceeds fifty thousand dollars, butdoes not exceed one hundred thousand dollars. Payments of the
tax imposed by this section are subject to the requirements of
subsection (e), section ten of this article.
(f) After deducting the tax required by subsection (e) of
this section, the amount required to be paid under the terms of
the contract with the legal wagering entity of another state and
the cost of transmission, the horse racing association shall make
a deposit equal to fifty percent of the remainder into the purse
fund established under the provisions of subdivision (b) (1),
section nine of this article.
(g) The provisions of the "Federal Interstate Horseracing
Act of 1978," also known as Public Law 95-515, Section 3001-3007
of Title 15, U.S. Code, as amended, controls in determining the
intent of this section.
(h) The handle from televised simulcast racing shall not be
included in the calculation of "average daily handle" as it is
calculated in section ten of this article to determine the
alternative daily pari-mutuel pool tax.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that one tenth
of one percent of the commissions from betting revenues from
pari-mutuel racing events in other states televised at racetracks
in this state be paid into the general fund of the county in
which the racetrack is located.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.