Senate Passes Table Games Bill

After about 90 minutes, one of the most controversial bills of late was passed by the West Virginia Senate, legalizing table games bill HB 2718. This came as a surprise to many as the Senate has never been known to endorse any kind of gambling, and many thought it a wonder that the slot machine bill was passed at all. However, just after 5 pm on Thursday they voted to support the bill.

The bill does not actually legalize the table games, but it does make it possible for them to exist. The bill says that the four counties with racetracks – Hancock, Jefferson, Kanawha, and Ohio – can now hold elections to see if their residents would like to add table games to the existing slot machines at their tracks.

The Senate did, however, make some changes to the bill, and how the revenues would be paid out. They decided that more of the money would go to the cities and counties of West Virginia, thereby reducing the amount of money that would go into the track purses. The House version had allowed for more in the purse fund than the Senate did. They said they felt it was more important that the revenue from the table games stayed in the state rather than going outside of it.

They said that it was also more important that the residents of those cities and counties were treated better than the animals that run at their tracks, and they did not feel that the initial bill necessarily did that. They wanted to see higher amounts going into pensions than purses.



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