SHE WON'T GO!
Gov. Beshear used his weekly YouTube address to advocate for gambling:
He said resident are taking their money to casinos in neighboring states, and that if Kentucky had its own casinos, that money could be kept here.
Gambling opponents have been working feverishly to try to defeat the governor’s proposal that could be voted on by a Senate committee next Wednesday.
Beshear has touted gambling as a way to generate additional money for the state budget by allowing casinos to open and then taxing their revenue.
“The proposed state budget is bleak, thanks to a sagging national economy and slow-to-recover state revenues,” Beshear said. “Painful cuts are being made across state government. We run a real risk of taking steps backward in areas like education, public protection, and job creation. And until our state generates more revenue, we will always fall behind.”
(I tried to find the video but couldn’t find one named ‘Gambling’ so we’ll have to take the AP’s word for it.)
In Sunday’s Courier, Gregory Hall previewed the casino gambling bill’s hearing on Wednesday at the Senate State & Local Government Committee, asking the Governor if this is the bill’s last chance.
Steve says no, but…
Others, on both sides of the debate, aren’t so sure.
While the issue likely wouldn’t go away, they say, a defeat could seriously derail political momentum, at least for the push to allow expanded gaming through a constitutional amendment — an approach that circumscribes the chance of a court challenge.
Hall goes on to catch up with Williams, Stumbo and Thayer and the consensus appears to be that, regardless of whether this is the last chance, the bill may well change and be simplified in the next couple days. In committee, it’s one vote short but it is expected to make it to the full Senate where it needs 23 votes.
On Friday, the Herald chatted with former Gov. Brereton Jones, who had some good thoughts on how the bill could change. Jones is the former head of KEEP, the horse lobbying group, and he’s advocated for gaming for years… but he says he can’t support Beshear’s gambling bill.
“We could end up with two mega-casinos and one casino at a lesser track,” Jones said. He also supports allowing local communities a say. “I know for sure most Kentuckians do not want to live in some kind of gambling mecca. It could be a disaster.”
Jones said changes are needed to designate what casino revenue would be spent on so people know what they are voting on.
“I respect that they’re trying to help but I think we’ve got to make certain we allow the people to make the decisions,” Jones said.
Jones wants to see a clearer plan, one that puts more power and more information in voters hands and has clearer structures for how it supports the horse industry and how its funds are divvied up.
Joe Gerth takes a wide view of all these critics and all their input in his column today:
The legislation still could have life left in it — depending on what changes are made before it is voted on in a Senate committee, possibly as early as Wednesday — but it’s not going to be easy.
The reason is that the protectionist provisions that make the legislation palatable to the horse industry are exactly those that are unpalatable to legislators who favor gambling but think the licenses should be sold to the highest bidders — no matter if they are in the horse business or not.
Beshear and Thayer thought they were walking that fine line between free market and protectionism when they wrote a bill that would give licenses to five horse tracks and two to operators that aren’t racetracks.
Gerth goes on to suggest Jones “fails to understand” Beshear’s bill (which seems unlikely) after highlighting Jones’ failure to deal with his own legislature (Brereton had the temerity to suggest they were owned by special interests in the midst of health care reform) and ends with a simple question:
A governor skilled at getting the legislature to do what he wants — even if it doesn’t want to — might be able to do those things. The question is, can Beshear?
It’ll be fun to watch.
Does Vegas have odds on this?
Let’s end by looking around the country real quick at some other gambling headlines. Like up in one of those other commonwealths:
To press its case at the Statehouse and win over wavering lawmakers, the industry hired a small army of lobbyists who, year after year, steadily made the argument for expanded gambling in Massachusetts.
In just the past five years, the tally for all that lobbying topped $11.4 million, according to a review of state lobbying records by The Associated Press.
And over in Maryland:
Maryland lawmakers are still waiting for the big payout from the Legislature’s gamble more than four years ago on legalized slot machines. To truly hit the jackpot, though, some lawmakers believe the state must expand gambling further, through table games and a Washington-area casino, to be competitive with nearby states and generate the dollars needed for education and other needs.
When the General Assembly voted in 2007 to let voters decide whether to allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five casinos in the state, supporters touted it as a sure-fire way to bring in millions for education, shore up the state’s horse-racing industry, and avoid painful cuts and tax increases.
Voters approved slot machines at five casinos in 2008. But so far, only 2,300 slot machines have been turned on at two locations, off Interstate 95 and on the Eastern Shore. State analysts have reduced projected revenues amid bad economic times, competition for gambling dollars from neighboring states and delays in developing three other casinos.
Well that’s a bummer.
But! Beshear’s gambling plan is different from Maryland’s and while Massachusetts may be bought and paid for, apparently Kentucky’s legislature’s top three givers are the pseudoephederine lobby, Altria/Phillip Morris and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (which, of course, is now orchestrating a gambling push).
So perhaps things are looking up.
Democratic Party Precinct Elections
MARCH 31st
