Horses could fund Virginia roads

Richmond (Map, News) - Racehorses could help Virginia raise much-needed transportation funding if legislation slated for introduction in January, at the beginning of the next year’s General Assembly session, is approved.

Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, told The Examiner this week he intends to push a bill that would increase pari-mutuel betting in the commonwealth when the legislature convenes next month.

Under the proposal, players could bet on horse races that have already happened and then watch the race on a video screen. They would have access to all the fundamental information and statistics available for live races except for when and where the race took place.

“No one will be able to look back into history to make money,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton, who chaired the Health Welfare and Institutions Committee last year, expects the increased wagering to initially generate about $50 million a year. That amount could become hundreds of millions annually once the program is totally implemented and customers become fully aware of it.

The revenue would be earmarked for road maintenance statewide, which Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer said cost a total of $1.3 billion a year. In recent years, he said, Virginia has diverted $400 million to $500 million in construction money just to cover maintenance expenses.

“Road maintenance projects are not glamorous, there are no ribbon cuttings,” he said. “But we have to take care of what we have.”

Virginia offers wagering on out-of-state races at the Colonial Downs horse track near Richmond and nine off-track facilities around the state. A 10th parlor is authorized for Northern Virginia, but no locality has approved its construction.

Arkansas already allows betting on older races and machines are being installed in Oregon to support it. Bettors wagered $154 million last year at the one track in Arkansas that features the old races, said Patricia McQueen, racing editor of International Gaming & Wagering Business magazine.

“It has been enormously successful in Arkansas,” she said.

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said the bill will face opposition from anti-gambling lawmakers and could have difficulty winning passage.

“You shouldn¹t do something bad even if the result ends up being good,” he said. ³We need money for transportation, but there are better ways to get it.”

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com

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