By T. D. Thornton
A bill that would restore $11 million in annual purse funds to the West Virginia racing industry cleared the House of Delegates on Friday by an 86-10 margin and now goes to Governor Jim Justice for his approval or veto.
According to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, that money has traditionally been generated by gaming at the state's two Thoroughbred and two greyhound racinos and gets deposited into the state's “excess lottery fund.”
But starting in 2006, instead of allowing that money to pay for purses, the state redirected the excess lottery fund to pay off debt that was left over after West Virginia privatized its workers' compensation program.
The News and Sentinel reported that the Workers' Compensation Old Fund initially had a debt of $3 billion, and over the last 14 years, the West Virginia racing industry contributed $154 million toward paying off that debt.
Other state programs not related to racing also had funds redirected in similar fashion. But now that the debt burden is in better shape, lawmakers are starting to shift some funding back to originally intended recipients.
SB 13 would accomplish that by changing an existing law about the excess lottery fund to include a section that reads “For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, and subsequent fiscal years, the [state racing] commission shall deposit $11 million to be distributed into the special funds established by the respective licensees [and] such distribution shall be on a pro rata basis based upon the actual purse earnings of each such licensee.”
SB 13 passed the Senate 34-0 on Feb 12.
Friday's passage in the House was preceded by a Thursday debate about whether the money could be better applied to some other sector, like public education. An amendment to instead distribute the $11 million annually to all 55 county boards of education failed, 19-78.
Delegate John Doyle pointed out on Thursday that when the purse funds were initially taken away in 2006, “the racing industry was fairly healthy, so not too many people complained too hard about it.” But, he added, “they were given the absolute assurance that once workers' comp was paid off, the money would go back to where the legislature intended.”
Delegate Randy Swartzmiller also spoke out in favor of restoring the money to the state's four tracks to pay for purses, the News and Sentinel reported. “By giving them back what we took, who wants to oppose that? We gave it back to everyone else, but we're not going to give it back to them because they don't deserve it? Because they're way down there on somebody's list? You want to know something? They're way up here on my list.”
The purse money would be divided among Thoroughbred tracks Charles Town Races and Mountaineer Park, plus two greyhound tracks, Mardi Gras and Wheeling Island.
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