WHEELING, W.Va. — A bill that would have ended millions of dollars in annual payouts to West Virginia greyhound breeders failed to get out of the starting gate Thursday.
In addition to defunding the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund, the bill would have “decoupled” dog racing from other forms of gambling at the state’s two greyhound tracks in Wheeling and Charleston.
That means the tracks no longer would have been required to continue offering live dog racing to renew their video lottery or table gambling licenses.
The bill – introduced May 27 by Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, and also sponsored by Sens. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and Greg Boso, R-Nicholas – came before the state Senate Finance Committee Thursday, but members adjourned without casting a vote on it. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, attempted to kill the legislation by moving to table it indefinitely, but his motion failed.
Kessler said he moved to table the bill because it wasn’t listed on Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s special session call. Although there are differing opinions on the constitutionality of passing legislation outside the bounds of a special session call, Kessler believes the bill’s legality would have been questionable at best.
He also doesn’t believe those affected by the bill, such as casino operators, breeders and those employed in the industry, have been given enough of an opportunity to weigh in on the issue.
“It was wasting our time, quite frankly,” Kessler said. “I just didn’t think it was an appropriate time for us to be dealing with this. … I’m confident that the governor would not sign a bill or let it become law if he didn’t put it on the call.”
The West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund paid out $5.3 million to breeders in 2015. Senate Bill 1008 would have redirected those funds to the state’s Excess Lottery Revenue Fund for appropriation by the Legislature, except for $500,000 that would have been set aside for the care and adoption of displaced greyhounds should the decide to cease racing. Money in the fund comes from a portion of video lottery and table gambling revenue at the Wheeling and Charleston casinos.
Kessler has said he’s open to debating whether the state can afford to continue propping up the greyhound industry. However, he wants to make sure the negative impact on the state’s economy if dog racing were to go away doesn’t outweigh the savings.
“I think it does need to be looked at comprehensively. But I’d like to see an economic impact study. … I want to make sure we don’t do something that’s penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Kessler said.
Some estimate greyhound racing supports as many as 1,700 jobs around West Virginia, Kessler added.
“In our economy right now, that would be a horrible thing for our region to suffer,” he said of the potential job loss.
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