Senate Bill No. 323
(By Senators Bailey, Bowman, Whitlow, Blatnik, Scott,
Dittmar, Oliverio, Walker, Wiedebusch, Helmick, Love, Plymale,
Macnaughtan, Yoder, Wagner, Schoonover, Anderson, Jackson, Dugan,
Minear, Grubb, Sharpe, Chafin, Deem, Tomblin, Mr. President,
Miller and Ross)
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[Introduced February 7, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Military; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nineteen, article five,
chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to death
registration; certificates; filing; payment of fee to file
certificate; and veterans' memorial grave marker fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nineteen, article five, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. VITAL STATISTICS.
§16-5-19. Death registration.
(a) A death certificate for each death which occurs in this
state shall be filed with the local registrar of the registration
district in which the death occurs within three days after
such
the death, and prior to removal of the body from the state, and
shall be registered by
such the registrar if it has been
completed and filed in accordance with this section:
Provided,
That:
(1) If the place of death is unknown, a death certificate
shall be filed in the registration district in which a dead body
is found within three days after the finding;
(2) If death occurs in a moving conveyance, a death
certificate shall be filed in the registration district in which
the dead body is first removed from
such the conveyance; and
(3) If the death occurs in a district other than where the
deceased resided, a death certificate shall be filed in the
registration district in which the death occurred and in the district in which the deceased resided.
(b) The funeral director or person acting for him
or her who
first assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death
certificate. He
or she shall obtain the necessary personal data
from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source
available. He
or she shall obtain the medical certification of
the cause of death from the person responsible for making
such
the certification.
(c) The medical certification shall be completed and signed
within twenty-four hours after death by the physician in charge
of the patient's care for the illness or condition which results
in death except when inquiry is required pursuant to article
twelve, chapter sixty-one of this code or other applicable
provision of this code.
(d) When death occurs without medical attendance and inquiry
is not required pursuant to article twelve, chapter sixty-one of
this code or other applicable provisions of this code, the local
health officer shall investigate the cause of death and complete
and sign the medical certification within twenty-four hours after
receiving notice of the death.
(e) When death occurs in a manner subject to investigation,
the coroner or other officer or official charged with the legal
duty of making
such the investigation shall investigate the cause
of death and shall complete and sign the medical certification
within twenty-four hours after making determination of the cause
of death.
(f) In order that each county may have a complete record of
the deaths occurring in
said the county, the local registrar
shall transmit each month to the county clerk of his
or her
county a copy of the certificates of all deaths occurring in
said
the county, and if any person
shall die dies in a county other
than that county within the state in which
such the person last
resided prior to death, then the state registrar shall, if
possible, also furnish a copy of
such the death certificate to
the clerk of the county commission of the county wherein
such the
person last resided, from which copies the clerk shall compile a
record of
such the deaths and shall enter the same in a
systematic and orderly way in a well-bound register of deaths for
that county, which
such the register shall be a public record.
The form of
said the death register shall be prescribed by the state registrar of vital statistics.
(g) There is established a special fund in the state
treasury designated the "Veterans' Memorial Grave Marker Fund".
The local registrar shall collect a sum of one dollar for each
death certificate filed to be deposited into the veterans'
memorial grave marker fund. The fund shall be administered by
the director of the division of veterans' affairs and moneys
deposited therein disbursed solely for providing grave markers
for veterans' graves without such in perpetual cemeteries in this
state.
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(NOTE: This bill would require a one dollar fee for filing a death
certificate. It also establishes the veterans' memorial grave
marker fund where the fee will be deposited for use in providing
grave markers for veterans' graves.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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MILITARY COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page _____, by striking out everything after the enacting
clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
That section ten, article twenty-two-a, chapter twenty-nine
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22A. RACE TRACK VIDEO LOTTERY.
§29-22A-10. Accounting and reporting; commission to provide
communications protocol data; distribution of net terminal
income; remittance through electronic transfer of funds;
establishment of accounts and nonpayment penalties;
commission control of accounting for net terminal income;
settlement of accounts; manual reporting and payment may be
required; request for reports; examination of accounts and
records.
(a) The commission shall provide to manufacturers, or
applicants applying for a manufacturer's permit, the protocol
documentation data necessary to enable the respective
manufacturer's video lottery terminals to communicate with the
commission's central computer for transmitting auditing program
information and for activation and disabling of video lottery
terminals.
(b) The gross terminal income of a licensed racetrack shall
be remitted to the commission through the electronic transfer of
funds. Licensed racetracks shall furnish to the commission all
information and bank authorizations required to facilitate the
timely transfer of moneys to the commission. Licensed racetracks
must provide the commission thirty days' advance notice of any
proposed account changes in order to assure the uninterrupted
electronic transfer of funds. From the gross terminal income
remitted by the licensee to the commission, the commission shall
deduct an amount sufficient to reimburse the commission for its
actual costs and expenses incurred in administering racetrack
video lottery at the licensed racetrack, and the resulting amount
after such deduction shall be the net terminal income. The
amount deducted for administrative costs and expenses of the
commission may not exceed four percent of gross terminal income.
(c) Net terminal income shall be divided as set out in this
subsection. The licensed racetrack's share shall be in lieu of
all lottery agent commissions and is considered to cover all
costs and expenses required to be expended by the licensed
racetrack in connection with video lottery operations. The
division shall be made as follows:
(1) The commission shall receive thirty percent of net
terminal income, which shall be paid into the general revenue
fund of the state to be appropriated by the Legislature;
(2) Fourteen percent of net terminal income at a licensed racetrack shall be deposited in the special fund established by
the licensee, and used for payment of regular purses in addition
to other amounts provided for in article twenty-three, chapter
nineteen of this code;
(3) The county where the video lottery terminals are located
shall receive two percent of the net terminal income;
(4) One half of one percent of net terminal income shall be
paid 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 to be used for payment into
the pension plan for all employees of the licensed racing
association;
(5) The West Virginia thoroughbred development fund created
under section thirteen-b, article twenty-three, chapter nineteen
of this code and the West Virginia greyhound breeding development
fund created under section ten, article twenty-three, chapter
nineteen of this code shall receive an equal share of a total of
not less than one and one-half percent of the net terminal
income:
Provided, That for any racetrack which does not have a
breeder's program supported by the thoroughbred development fund
or the greyhound breeding development fund, the one and one-half
percent provided for in this subdivision shall be deposited in
the special fund established by the licensee and used for payment
of regular purses, in addition to other amounts provided for in
subdivision (2) of this subsection and article twenty-three,
chapter nineteen of this code.
(6) The West Virginia thoroughbred breeders classic shall
receive one percent of the net terminal income which shall be
used for purses.
The moneys shall be deposited in the separate
account established for the classic under section thirteen,
article twenty-three, chapter nineteen of this code;
(7) A licensee shall receive forty-seven percent of net
terminal income;
(8) The tourism promotion fund established in section nine,
article one, chapter five-b of this code shall receive three
percent of the net terminal income; and
(9) The veterans memorial program shall receive one percent
of the net terminal income until sufficient moneys have been
received to complete the veterans memorial on the grounds of the
state capitol complex in Charleston, West Virginia. The money shall be deposited in the state treasury in the special
department of culture and history fund created under section
three, article one-i of this chapter:
Provided, That after
sufficient moneys have been deposited in the fund to complete the
veterans memorial, the one percent of net terminal income
provided for in this subdivision shall
be deposited in the
special fund established by the licensee and used for payment of
regular purses, in addition to other amounts provided for in
subdivision (2) of this subsection and article twenty-three,
chapter nineteen of this code. continue to be deposited in the
department of culture and history fund and be used by the
division of culture and history to: (1) Restore and maintain any
and all monuments and memorials located on the grounds of the
capitol in Charleston, West Virginia; and (2) twenty thousand
dollars, to be administered by the director of the division of
veterans' affairs through rules promulgated in accordance with
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, shall be used for the
placement of veterans' grave markers.
(d) Each licensed racetrack shall maintain in its account an
amount equal to or greater than the gross terminal income from
its operation of video lottery machines, to be electronically
transferred by the commission on dates established by the
commission. Upon a licensed racetrack's failure to maintain this
balance, the commission may disable all of a licensed racetrack's
video lottery terminals until full payment of all amounts due is
made. Interest shall accrue on any unpaid balance at a rate
consistent with the amount charged for state income tax
delinquency under chapter eleven of this code, which interest
shall begin to accrue on the date payment is due to the
commission.
(e) The commission's central control computer shall keep
accurate records of all income generated by each video lottery
terminal. The commission shall prepare and mail to the licensed
racetrack a statement reflecting the gross terminal income
generated by the licensee's video lottery terminals. Each
licensed racetrack must report to the commission any
discrepancies between the commission's statement and each
terminal's mechanical and electronic meter readings. The
licensed racetrack is solely responsible for resolving income
discrepancies between actual money collected and the amount shown on the accounting meters or on the commission's billing
statement.
(f) Until an accounting discrepancy is resolved in favor of
the licensed racetrack, the commission may make no credit
adjustments. For any video lottery terminal reflecting a
discrepancy, the licensed racetrack shall submit to the
commission the maintenance log which includes current mechanical
meter readings and the audit ticket which contains electronic
meter readings generated by the terminal's software. If the
meter readings and the commission's records cannot be reconciled,
final disposition of the matter shall be determined by the
commission. Any accounting discrepancies which cannot be
otherwise resolved shall be resolved in favor of the commission.
(g) Licensed racetracks shall remit payment by mail if the
electronic transfer of funds is not operational or the commission
notifies licensed racetracks that remittance by this method is
required. The licensed racetracks shall report an amount equal
to the total amount of cash inserted into each video lottery
terminal operated by a licensee, minus the total value of game
credits which are cleared from the video lottery terminal in
exchange for winning redemption tickets, and remit such amount as
generated from its terminals during the reporting period. The
remittance shall be sealed in a properly addressed and stamped
envelope and deposited in the United States mail no later than
noon on the day when the payment would otherwise be completed
through electronic funds transfer.
(h) Licensed racetracks may, upon request, receive
additional reports of play transactions for their respective
video lottery terminals and other marketing information not
considered confidential by the commission. The commission may
charge a reasonable fee for the cost of producing and mailing any
report other than the billing statements.
(i) The commission has the right to examine all accounts,
bank accounts, financial statements and records in a licensed
racetrack's possession, under its control or in which it has an
interest and the licensed racetrack must authorize all third
parties in possession or in control of the accounts or records to
allow examination of any of those accounts or records by the
commission.
And,
On page one, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 323--A Bill to amend and reenact
section ten, article twenty-two-a, chapter twenty-nine of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, relating to the completion of the veterans memorial by
deposit of income from video lottery terminals into the
department of culture and history fund; and continuing deposits
to the fund upon completion of the veterans' memorial for the
purpose of restoring and maintaining monuments located on the
capitol grounds and establishing and maintaining the veterans'
memorial grave marker fund.