State restricts legislators with casino ties

Lawrence Messina

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 | 9:19 a.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Any legislator whose employer could benefit from casino-style table games can't sponsor a bill setting up a local election on the issue, the state Ethics Commission concluded Thursday.

Such a legislator "shares a common financial interest with his employer," which "is among the principal beneficiaries of the legislation proposed," the commission's advisory opinion said.

Following commission rules, the opinion did not name the lawmaker who requested it. The legislator had asked about sponsoring a bill "authorizing a county referendum on an issue which could benefit the company by which he is employed."

This employer operates a gambling site, but the lawmaker's job does not directly relate to gambling, lobbying or public relations for the employer, the opinion said. The legislator's county commission has started a petition drive that seeks a bill allowing a local option election, the opinion also said.

Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, manages the golf course operated by the Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Center. Its president, Ted Arneault, advocates allowing table games at the state's four racetracks, though officials at the other tracks have yet to follow suit.

The track is located in Hancock County, whose commission voted last year to circulate a petition for a local option election. Bowman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

At its December meeting, the commission had considered allowing the inquiring legislator to sponsor such a bill as long as he was not directly involved in gambling. Led by Chairman John Charnock, the commission rejected that draft of its opinion.

"This is a clear appearance of impropriety," Charnock said then, according to the Charleston Gazette. "In this instance, it's so clear it even hits someone with trifocals like myself in the face."