After months of going back and forth between committees, a bill that would make racetrack-casinos, aka racinos, a reality in the territory picked up enough votes Monday to make it onto the full Senate for a final vote.
The bill would allow for gaming — whether through casino-style slot machines on St. Croix or video lottery terminals on St. Thomas — at racetracks on both islands. The bill has been stirring controversy for years, but on the latest go around through the Senate, one of the primary concerns was that the 22.5-percent racetrack gaming tax initially proposed in the bill would greatly deplete each racino’s gross monthly revenues.
The bill was amended in the Senate’s Rules and Judiciary Committee Monday, spreading the tax out in a sliding scale from 16 percent per year on gross revenues up to $12 million, to 22.5 percent per year on gross revenues above $20 million. During Monday’s meeting, many senators said they hope the racinos would pump more money into the territory and revitalize a failing horse racing industry.
Senators also pushed through three other bills in a matter of hours, which:
–authorize the Public Finance Authority to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the University of the Virgin Islands and the Career and Technical Training Center at St. Croix’s Educational Complex to allow for the King’s Alley Hotel to became a training center for students hoping to enter the tourism industry;
— praise aviation pioneer Gen. Charles Blair, and names the St. Thomas seaplane terminal after him; and
–amend the rules affecting enterprise zones and gives economic planners more tools with which to try to redevelop areas of Frederiksted, Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie by extending tax breaks and other economic benefits, and makes them available to individuals, not just businesses.
Senators also approved the nominations of Felipe Ayala and Robert Moron to the V.I. Historic Preservation Commission, but held on to the nomination of Ronald Lockhart because of tax issues raised during the meeting.
All bills passed Monday are scheduled to reappear during full session on Wednesday and Thursday.
Present Monday were Sens. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Neville James, Usie R. Richards, Sammuel Sanes, Patrick Simeon Sprauve and Michael Thurland.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr. was absent.
