Committee approves bill shifting motor-racing permit authority to state DOT

The Senate Finance Committee voted March 27 to report committee substitute for Senate Bill 67 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

Senate Bill 67 would repeal a provision in the county code that allowed county commissions to organize motor vehicle racing events on roads and airports and instead place permitting authority with the West Virginia Department of Transportation. The bill, as explained by committee counsel during the hearing, would allow the department to issue permits to motorsports sanctioning bodies and to set permit fees intended to reimburse administrative costs.

The committee counsel said the bill requires the department to verify that an event sponsor carries appropriate insurance, provides adequate security and emergency services, and has a plan for temporary road closures and rerouting of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Permitted racing events would be exempt from certain statutory provisions related to road obstructions, public nuisance and speed restrictions. The permittee must indemnify and hold harmless the state and the department for claims resulting from the event.

Committee debate was procedural and limited to approval of the committee substitute. The vice chair moved to report the committee substitute to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass; the motion was approved by voice vote and the committee substitute was declared adopted.

No amendments or roll-call vote counts were recorded in the committee transcript; the chair characterized the action as a voice vote in which "the ayes have it."