COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2595
(By Delegates Pettit, Doyle, Manuel, Seacrist and
Faircloth)
(Originating in the Committee on Finance)
[March 28, 1997]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections twelve-b and twelve-c, article
twenty-three, chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to simulcasting of horse and dog races and pari-mutuel
wagering on simulcast races; providing for broadcast of
televised horse and dog races between racetracks within the
State of West Virginia; providing for live racing dates;
providing for a negotiated signal transmission fee as
consideration for a host racing association's televised racing
services; providing for payments into racetrack employees'
pension funds, the thoroughbred development fund and purse
funds.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twelve-b and twelve-c, article twenty-three,
chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
§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
other racetracks
in this state or at racetracks outside of
the this 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,
governmental entity, conducts the horse or dog race
subject to the
interstate upon which wager
s are placed.
(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
this state or in any other
state
governmental jurisdiction 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 ten live
racing dates for each horse race meeting
: Provided, furtherHhohowever, That
at those thoroughbred racetracks that have 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 licensee may
apply for not less than one hundred fifty-nine live racing dates
during the calendar year of one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven.
If, thereafter, for reasons beyond the licensee's control, related
to adverse weather conditions
, or unforeseen casualty occurrences
or a shortage of thoroughbred horses eligible to compete for
purses, 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
and the representative of the majority of the
mutuel clerks 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 the full
two hundred twenty day live racing
schedule
previously approved by the racing commission. If an
objection is received by the commission within the time limits, the
commission shall
, within thirty days of receipt of such objection,
set a hearing on the question of reducing racing days, which
hearing shall be conducted at a convenient place in the county in
which the requesting racetrack is located.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 commission shall hear from all parties concerned and
, based
upon testimony and documentary evidence presented at the hearing,
thereupon shall determine shall make recommendations to the racing
commission on the required number of live racing days
: Provided,
That the commission shall not reduce the number of live racing days
below one hundred eighty-five days for a horse race meeting unless
the licensee requesting such reduction has: (i) filed with the
commission a current financial statement, which shall be subject to
independent audit,; and (ii) met the burden of proving that just cause exists for such requested reduction in 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
thoroughbred 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.
For the televised
racing services it provides, the host racing association shall
receive a fee to be paid by the receiving licensee racetrack which
shall be in an amount to be agreed upon by the receiving licensee
racetrack and the host racing association.
(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.
The calculation of the total pari-mutuel pool
for purposes of this subsection shall include only one-half of all
wagers placed at a licensed racetrack in this state on televised
races conducted at another licensed racetrack within this state.
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 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
thoroughbred licenseeSs 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
five and 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, telecommunication costs 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 For the
purposes of this section, the term "net simulcast income" means the
total
commission deducted each day by the licensee from the pari-
mutuel pools on simulcast horse or dog races, simulcast handle less
direct simulcast expenses, including, but not limited to, the cost
of simulcast signals
, telecommunication costs and decoder costs.
(f) After deducting the tax
and other payments 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 host racing association 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.
§19-23-12c. Interstate simulcasts by licensed racetracks.
(a) Any
licensed racing association
which was licensed under
this article to hold live races during the month of January, 1995,
may be authorized by the commission to transmit broadcasts of races
conducted at its racetrack to legal wagering entities located outside this state
, which legal wagering entities located outside
this state shall not be subject to the provisions of subsection (e)
of section twelve-b of this article:
Provided, That as
consideration for the televised racing services it provides, the
host racing association shall receive a signal transmission fee to
be paid by the receiving legal wagering entity which shall be in an
amount agreed upon by the receiving legal wagering entity and the
host racing association: That All broadcasts of horse races shall
be in accordance with all of the provisions of the "Federal
Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978", also known as Public Law
95-515, section
3001-3007 of Title 15 of the United States Code.
(b) One percent of the total signal transmission fee provided
in subsection (a) of this section shall be paid into a special fund
to be established by the racing commission for and on behalf of all
employees of the licensed racing association to be used for
payments into the pension plan for all employees of the licensed
racing association, and any thoroughbred horse racetrack which 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.
Seven and one-half percent of the signal transmission fee shall be
paid into the West Virginia thoroughbred development fund established by the racing commission according to section thirteen- b of this article. After deducting (i) the amounts required to be
placed into the pension plan for all employees of the licensed
racing association under this section, (ii) the amounts, if any,
required to be paid into the West Virginia thoroughbred development
fund under this section. The racing association may deduct from
the signal transmission fee direct costs necessary to send a live
audio and visual signal of horse races or dog races from any
racetrack licensed under the provisions of section one of this
article to any legal wagering entities outside this state for the
purpose of pari-mutuel wagering, which direct costs shall include
the cost of satellite equipment necessary to transmit the signal,
a satellite operator and the satellite time necessary to broadcast
the signal and the cost of telecommunication and facsimile services
needed to communicate necessary information to all legal wagering
entities for the purpose of pari-mutuel wagering. After the
deductions provided for in this subsection are made, thoroughbred
horse racing associations shall make a deposit equal to fifty
percent of the remainder into the purse fund established under the
provisions of subdivision (b), subsection (1), section nine of this
article.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
