Published: April 10, 2009 11:18 pm      

Lawmakers give OK to Greenbrier gambling

CHARLESTON — Saving The Greenbrier from collapse while it works under bankruptcy protection with a potential buyer was the theme that carried special legislation to the finish line Friday at the state Capitol.

Surviving a flurry of amendments during a lengthy House debate, the proposal, now en route Gov. Joe Manchin, would let an impending gambling operation collect the same percentage as race tracks and dole out cash coupons to patrons.

Moreover, the majority House Democrats beat back a minority report substitute that would scrap the cash gifts to gamblers and apply existing law to casino-style wagering.

After the House passed the measure on an 83-17 vote, the Senate agreed 33-1 to the House changes and sent the legislation to the governor.

Delegate Kelli Sobonya, R-Cabell, failed by a 30-68 vote to impose a $1,000 fee on slot machines at race tracks that private clubs and fraternal groups now pay.

“It’s time to remove the disparity that has existed between out-of-state race track casinos and private clubs and fraternal organizations,” she said.

Sobonya said the amendment would generate $14 million more revenue and she would divide it equally between the Promise Scholarship fund and in-home health care for seniors.

But Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, pointed out the White Sulphur Springs hotel has lost $35 million in the last five years.

Imposing a $1,000 fee on one-arm bandits would make a potential buyer less eager to take over at a time negotiations are being tread, he said.

“It might just be enough to put it over the edge,” White said.

Delegate Tom Louisos, D-Fayette, sought to use some gambling proceeds to restore lifetime benefits to the disabled. A workers’ compensation package a few years ago shut off their money at age 70.

“How would you like to be 70 years old, your income stops and nobody seems to care?” he asked.

White warned reopening benefits to those 70 and beyond would be “a tremendous cost, a big-dollar amount.”

Another Louisos amendment that failed sought to increase from $50 to $75 the monthly stipend for those in nursing homes to spend on cosmetics and hygiene items.

Delegate Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, would redirect part of the money headed for the employees at The Greenbrier into the unemployment compensation fund.

“It’s not killing two birds with one stone,” he maintained. “We’re saving two funds with one amendment.”

White, however, interpreted that as a threat to the employees fund.

In rebuttal, Cowles reminded fellow delegates the Legislature refused to send any extra money to rescue struggling pension accounts of police and firefighters in Huntington and Charleston, and ignored volunteer firefighters as well.

He termed The Greenbrier legislation “a bailout of pension and retirement with tax dollars.”

In support of SB575, Delegate Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier, considered it critical for both the hotel and his district.

While Greenbrier has a jobless rate of 12 percent, he said, adjoining Fayette, Monroe and Summers counties “are feeling the pain right now.”

“Our main enterprise is bankrupt,” Campbell said.

“People are not working. People are hurting. This is a way to solve that problem and it’s vital for West Virginia, not just my district.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com