Senate Bill No. 230
(By Senator Bailey)
____________
[Introduced March 3, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirteen, article twenty- three, chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the expenditure of excess moneys from unredeemed dog racing
pari-mutuel tickets.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, 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.
PART VIII. DISPOSITION OF FUNDS FOR PAYMENT OF OUTSTANDING AND
UNREDEEMED PARI-MUTUEL TICKETS; IRREDEEMABLE TICKETS; AWARDS.
§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 such ninety-day period, and the licensee shall give
such the information as the racing commission may require
concerning such all outstanding and unredeemed tickets. All such
this money 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 such 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 such the
outstanding and unredeemed pari-mutuel tickets, notifying them to
present such the tickets for payment at the principal office of
the racing commission within ninety days from the date of the
publication of such the notice. Such The notice shall be
published within fifteen days following the receipt of said
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
such the publication shall be the county in which such the horse
or dog race meeting was held and the county in which the
televised racing day wagering conducted in this state.
(b) Any such pari-mutuel tickets from horse racing tracks
that shall not be presented for payment within ninety days from
the date of the publication of the notice shall thereafter be
irredeemable, and the moneys theretofore held for the redemption
of such 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 therein the moneys
turned over by such the licensee and the amount expended at such
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 such the horse is at the time of such the horse
race a bona fide resident of this state, a sum equal to ten
percent of the purse won by such the horse. 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
filed a personal income tax return in this state for the previous
two years and that he owned real or personal property in this
state and paid taxes in this state on said property for the
previous two years, he 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 such
horse; 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 such 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 such
the horse; 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 such 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 such 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 moneys in the special account, 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 beginning with the fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred ninety, and 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, transfer annually three hundred thousand dollars of
such the excess moneys into a separate account to be used for
promotional activities and purses for stake races for the West
Virginia thoroughbred breeders classic, which shall give equal
consideration to all horses qualifying under the West Virginia
breeders program for each stake race, based solely on the horses'
sex, age and earnings.
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".
(c) Any pari-mutuel tickets from dog racing tracks not
presented within ninety days from the date of the publication of
the notice shall thereafter be irredeemable, and the moneys held
for the redemption of such pari-mutuel tickets shall become the
property of the racing commission, and shall be expended as
follows:
(1) Fifty percent of the funds to be divided equally among
existing dog tracks for stake races; and,
(2) Fifty percent of the funds to the "West Virginia Racing
Commission Special Account -- West Virginia Greyhound Development
Fund."
(c)(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.
(d)(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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
expenditure of excess moneys from unredeemed dog racing pari- mutuel tickets.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.