Let’s let “What Happens in Vegas Stay in Vegas”

Here is how Nevada ranks among other states in several key areas:

Story:
Casino gambling too costly

Opposition to expanding gambling in Kentucky is growing, and it's about time, because all the glowing promises of enhanced revenue for Kentucky notwithstanding, the reality is that gambling's adverse effects outweigh any so-called financial gains.

Be that as it may, proponents of gambling have been working diligently to expand it in Kentucky since then-Gov. Paul Patton in 1999 repeatedly broached the subject of casino gambling, all the while maintaining he was neutral on the subject. It should have gone away, but unfortunately, did not. This year has brought a major push to expand gambling, thanks to the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP). Established in 2004 to unite the horse industry and serve as a political organization to effect change in Frankfort, KEEP has been promoting expanded gambling at every turn.

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.winchestersun.com/articles/2006/01/27/local_news/opinion/edit700.txt

Yesterday on the Sue Wiley show, a caller named Jack inquired about where the financial support for our campaign is originating. First and foremost, we don’t have much financial support and can use all we can get to counter the messages being pushed by the casino lobby. Our contributors are from the equine, home building, banking, real estate, and other business sectors. We do not, have not and will not accept any support from any casino gambling-related entity or any individual affiliated with any casino entity. Frankly, it’s difficult to understand the significance of who has contributed to our relatively small budget in light of the millions of dollars amassed by casino proponents. Suffice it to say we have support from the Kentucky business community, and all of it goes directly to our campaign efforts. The campaign director draws no compensation from Say No To Casinos, and all contributions are used for our fight to protect the Commonwealth.

“It’s just keeping what we’re sending over to Indiana and Illinois,” said Representative Denver Butler last Thursday in an interview with Associated Press writer Bruce Shreiner. (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/legislature/13668051.htm)
Rep. Butler was speaking in reference to the bill he had recently filed to allow for casinos in Kentucky. The only problem is, the bill he’s proposed is hardly “just keeping what we’re sending over” our neighbor states. In fact, the Legislative Research Commission’s fiscal impact statement for Butler’s House bill estimates that casino revenues would be $1.02 billion in 2008-09.
Using the standard casino rule of $10 required to be wagered for every $1 in revenue, that means Kentuckians would have to wager over $10 billion a year! That’s $10 billion away from established businesses and Kentucky families.

Let me put it in a another light. Since the establishment of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation in 1989, a little over $8 billion worth of tickets have been sold. That’s $8 billion in more than 15 years. Rep. Butler’s bill would require Kentuckians to wager more than $10 billion EVERY YEAR. Even if you believe the misleading figure of $600 million used by some casino proponents, and even with my basic math, $10 billion is quite a bit more than “…what we’re sending over to Indiana and Illinois.”

Call your state legislators to let them know your thoughts about Rep. Butler’s math.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2006

Contact:
John-Mark Hack
859-621-6732

Statewide Business Campaign On Casino Gambling in Kentucky:
Bad for Business, Bad for the Horse Industry, Bad for the State Budget

(Frankfort) A new statewide business campaign to provide research-based information on the business and economic impact of casino gambling in Kentucky was announced today. Organizers of Say No to Casinos (SNTC) will work to inform the General Assembly and the public of the consequences casinos will have on local businesses and local economies, the thoroughbred industry, and the state budget.

SNTC opposes casinos because of the draining effect they have on local economies. Businesses suffer as more dollars are siphoned away from them toward casinos. Economic studies document how casinos absorb existing entertainment, restaurant, and hotel and retail revenue, taking dollars that would otherwise be available to local businesses. The result over the long-term is elimination of jobs in the casino trade area, as well as the reduction of sales, employment and property tax revenue from local businesses.

SNTC also opposes casinos because of the threat posed to Kentucky’s horse industry. One group, the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), has been co-opted to carry the flag of casino gambling under a veil of protecting the horse industry cherished by Kentuckians. The proposed Kentucky Gaming and Revenue plan amounts to a bribe aggressively pushed upon on the state by a handful of race track owners looking to add to their personal profits. SNTC wants Kentucky’s horse industry protected from the hostile competitive environment casinos will create.

The Say No to Casinos campaign director, John-Mark Hack stated, “When you look at what’s happened in other states, it’s pretty clear that casinos are bad for business, bad for horses and bad for budgets. Let’s build our economy on real jobs and growth, not on the corruptive influence of gambling dollars.”

Casino supporters falsely claim that millions of dollars in revenue for state and local government will come from casinos, but this money has to come from somewhere because casinos sure don’t print it new. Gambling costs citizens far more than tax increases, even for those citizens who NEVER gamble. Independent studies show that in the end, gambling can actually cost the state more money than it generates. The money the casino proponents promise to give back to local and state governments will come out of the Kentucky economy, from Kentucky citizens. Casinos play a shell game with a community’s money, dropping most of it into their own kitty, paying operating expenses, and paying off government with a mere fraction of their profits.

In addition to the threats posed to business and the horse industry, casinos will produce many more budget problems than they would ever solve. Considering the well-documented social costs of gambling, including increased crime, increased bankruptcies, increased public assistance rates, and increased prison populations, casinos are perhaps the most costly form of governmental revenue. Kentucky simply can’t afford these additional burdens, while casinos make off with hundreds of millions of dollars in profits harvested from Kentucky families and businesses.

“It’s simply wrong that Kentuckians must lose $1.25 billion at gambling so that state government can gain $435 million in tax revenue,” Mr. Hack remarked.

Through research and observation of gambling expansion battles in other states, citizens can discover that expanding gambling pitches made by casino owners and supporters are predictable, as is the impact of gambling on any community. Case by case, the promises of additional revenue fall through, small businesses close, addictions, crime and abuse increase and families are torn apart. Furthermore, those making the additional revenue promises are never held accountable.

It is clear that some local and state government officials are attracted by the false promise of additional revenue offered by casino supporters. But casinos represent the worse of alternatives for generating governmental revenue because of the huge direct costs of casinos that will be borne by public agencies. Simply improving the state’s debt collection efforts could raise half the money that Big Casino’s messengers are proposing. Improvements to governmental spending habits can yield even more.

Say No To Casinos believes now is the time for concerned leaders from all business and social sectors to pursue the long-term economic reform our state needs, reform of government spending habits, continued reform of government taxation policies and reform of governmental economic development policies. The best and brightest from large and small business, agriculture, health care, education, the faith community, government and other sectors, can chart the comprehensive economic plan our state needs to ensure its long-term prosperity.

Say No To Casinos calls upon all Kentuckians to take the time to fully consider all the facts related to casino gambling in our state. Then, contact your state legislators to let them know where you stand. Citizen action will help determine what kind of Kentucky we have in the future.