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Subcommittee approves expanding historical horse‑racing revenue recipients and boosting problem‑gambling funding
Summary
HB 49 would add Shenandoah County Agricultural Foundation (Shenandoah Downs) and Great Meadow Foundation (Great Meadow Gold Cup) to entities receiving historical horse‑racing revenue and increase funding for problem‑gambling programs; subcommittee reported the bill 9‑0 to Appropriations.
Doug Reed presented HB 49, which would add two equine organizations to the list of recipients funded by historical horse‑racing revenue created under the 2018 Revenue Generation Act and increase the share directed to problem‑gambling programs. Reed said the historical horse‑racing sector "has grown from generating about a 174,000,000 a year in revenue to about $44,500,000,000.0 a year in total revenue," and he emphasized that the bill would not take money away from existing recipients because the overall revenue pool has expanded.
Representatives of the Great Meadow Foundation and the Shenandoah County Agricultural Foundation testified in support (Susan Gaston), and Jonathan Williams of the Virginia Equine Alliance backed the bill as improving funding for equine activities across the Commonwealth. A member of the committee thanked the patron and described the use of charitable gaming dollars as appropriate for reinvestment in the industry.
A motion to report HB 49 and refer it to Appropriations was made and seconded; the clerk recorded the vote and the bill was reported 9 to 0 and referred to Appropriations.
