Senate Bill No. 419
(By Senators Blatnik and Bowman)
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[Introduced February 16, 1996; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
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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 televised racing days; merging of pari-mutuel wagering pools; and increasing the amount of such pools that is dedicated to the pension fund of the licensed racing association's employees.

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-mutuel betting 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: Provided, That at those thoroughbred racetracks the licensee, in applying for racing dates, shall apply for not less than two hundred twenty live racing dates for each horse race meeting. If, thereafter, for reasons beyond the licensee's control, related to adverse weather conditions or unforeseen casualty occurrences the licensee concludes that this number of racing days cannot be attained, the licensee may file a request with the racing commission to reduce the authorized live racing days. Upon receipt of the request the racing commission shall within seventy-two hours of the receipt of the request notify the licensee and the representative of a majority of the owners and trainers at the requesting track that such request has been received and that if no objection to the request is received within ten days of the notification the request will be approved: Provided, That the commission shall give consideration to whether there existed available unscheduled potential live racing dates following the adverse weather or casualty and prior to the end of the race meeting which could be used as new live racing dates in order to maintain a full two hundred twenty day live racing schedule. If an objection is received by the commission within the time limits, the commission shall establish a binding arbitration board. The board shall consist of one member appointed by the licensee, one member appointed by the representative of a majority of the owners and trainers at the racetrack and a third member to be selected by the two appointed members. In the event the two members cannot agree on the third member, each member shall submit two names to the racing commission and from those names the racing commission shall appoint the third member of the board. The board shall hear from all parties concerned and thereupon shall make recommendations to the racing commission on the required number of live racing days. The recommendations of the board are final. 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 of the 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) (1) 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 and 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, but does 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.
(2) From the licensee commissions authorized by subsection (c) of this section, after payments are made in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the licensee shall pay, for each televised racing day, one ~~fourth~~ half of one percent of the total pari-mutuel pools for and on behalf of all employees of the licensed racing association by making a deposit into a special fund to be established by the racing commission and to be used for payments into the pension plan for all employees of the licensed racing association.
(3) From the licensee commissions authorized by subsection (c) of this section, after payments are made in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions (1)and (2) of this subsection, the licensee shall pay, for each televised racing day on or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, one-half percent of net simulcast income and for each televised racing day on or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, an additional one-half percent of net simulcast income into the West Virginia thoroughbred development fund established by the racing commission according to section thirteen-b of this article: Provided, That the payments shall be reduced by an amount equal to one third of direct simulcast expenses which shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of simulcast signals and decoder costs: Provided, however, That no licensee qualifying for the alternate tax provisions of subsection (b), section ten of this article shall be required to make the payments unless the licensee has participated in the West Virginia thoroughbred development fund for a period of more than four consecutive calendar years prior to the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two. The term "net simulcast income" means the total simulcast handle less direct simulcast expenses, including, but not limited to, the cost of simulcast signals and decoder costs.
(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 (1), subsection (b), 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.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the percentage of the total pari-mutuel pool for each televised racing day that is dedicated to the licensed racing association's employees' pension fund from .25% to .5%.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.