Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120334
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
OFF-TRACK HORSE BETTING PASSES HOUSE
A bill to allow off-track betting on horse racing in Virginia won final approval in the House of Delegates Tuesday after faltering on its last hurdle.The bill, which would allow a track operator to conduct wagering at up to six sites away from the track, needed at least 51 votes to pass; it got only 50 on an initial vote, but supporters of bill quickly scrambled to have it reconsidered. It passed, 55-42.
Portsmouth has been discussed as a possible location for a horse track. It would be the first since Virginians legalized pari-mutuel wagering on horses in 1988, though a Richmond businessman has begun preliminary site work for a proposed steeplechase track in New Kent County.
The bill's sponsor, Del. Lewis Parker, D-South Hill, argued that investors are more willing to build a track in Virginia with the added revenue generated by off-track betting. The track itself would employ more than 1,000 people, while each of the off-track "teletheaters" would employ up to 125, Parker said.
The bill also requires local voter approval before an off-track betting parlor is located in the community. As an incentive, 1 percent of the wagering pool from the parlor will go to the locality.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
Yea or Nay\ On off-track betting/ / IN FAVOR: Dels. Steven Agee, R-Salem, Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs, G.C. Jennings, D-Marion, Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke.\ OPPOSED: Dels. Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville; Tommy Baker, R-Radford; Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton; Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount; Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon; Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville; Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke.
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