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STATE-BY-STATE NEWS UPDATE: Fall 2002 ARIZONA A major feature of the summit will be the release of two research reports on the economic impact of gaming machines at racing facilities and the potential for new racing and gaming markets. The reports are being compiled by Wall Street analysts Jason Ader and Michael Tew of Bear Stearns, along with Marc Falcone and Eric Hausier of Deutsche Bank Securities. Wayne Lemons, director of the Delaware Lottery and a scheduled speaker at the summit, said the event will be a great opportunity for industry officials to meet with one another. "The lottery and racing industries should work closely together, especially now when many states have or are considering video lottery programs at racetracks," Lemons said. "Gaming machines are becoming an important part of the product mix at racetracks throughout North America," said Douglas Reed, director of the university's racetrack program. "This convergence of racing and gaming offers exciting opportunities for lottery officials, track operators, and for gaming vendors." [Editor's Note: Five greyhound tracks in three states - Iowa, Rhode Island, and West Virginia - are currently licensed to operate video lottery terminals or coin-drop slot machines. While the machines have given these once-failing tracks life-support, interest in live dog and horse racing continues to decline. Earlier this year, greyhound activists successfully defeated slot machine legislation in Kansas, Florida, and New Hampshire.] Source: Thoroughbred Times Today CONNECTICUT The track has been talked about as a potential casino site for either the Eastern Pequot tribes, who were granted federal recognition in June, or the Nipmuc tribe, who are awaiting a final decision from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Plainfield's attendance and wagering handle has fallen drastically since the opening of the Mashantucket Pequots Foxwoods Resort Casino in 1992. Last year was the worst financially for the track, which posted an estimated $400,000 loss and record-low attendance. In January, track officials sought tax relief from the town and the state for the one percent tax the track is charged on its annual wagering handle. The measure was tabled, but resurfaced in the Legislature in mid-summer when state lawmakers voted to support a temporary tax break for the track. An Aug. 15 editorial opinion in The Day criticized the tax break as a "wasteful measure." State Rep. Steven Mikutel, whose district includes the dog track, defended the measure, saying it would save jobs in the economically depressed 45th District. Sources: Norwich Bulletin: Associated Press The Day FLORIDA On July 27, a professional hauler loaded 38 greyhounds into an air-conditioned trailer and left the Flagler dog track in Miami heading to the Naples-Fort Myers track in Bonita Springs, said David Roberts, director of the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering. According to Roberts, sometime during the 120-mile trip across state route 84, known as Alligator Alley because it crosses over the Florida Everglades, the trailer's air conditioner broke down. "He stopped and bought bags of ice to place inside the trailer," Roberts said, a practice used by other haulers to cool the dogs during transport. Upon arrival at the Bonita track, the driver discovered three dogs in distress and summoned the track veterinarian. One greyhound was "in such bad shape" it had to be euthanized, Roberts said. Prompted by complaints from local and national greyhound protection groups and published reports, the state investigated the incident but found no violations and the dog's death was ruled an accident. No charges were brought against the hauler, who is licensed to transport greyhounds in Florida. Janet Skinner, Tampa Bay coordinator for the California-based Greyhound Protection League, said the state should require dog haulers to keep disposition records whenever greyhounds are transported. "Considering that one-third of all dog racing is done in Florida, it seems like the state should be taking the lead on this." Sources: Bonita Banner: Steve Schmadeke Associated Press IOWA Chief Justice Louis Lavorato on Aug. 6 denied the Iowa attorney general's petition for another hearing in the case. The matter now heads back to the trial court, where a Polk County district judge must determine how much money the state owes the racetracks. Track officials said they stand to recover a total of $100 million in tax refunds, plus $10 million more in interest. The Dubuque and Council Bluffs dog tracks are expected to recover a total of $56 million; the horse track in Altoona would receive the remainder. Bob Brammer, spokesman for Attorney General Tom Miller, said the state would consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days. After slot machines were legalized for the three tracks in 1994, the Legislature established an escalating annual two percent tax increase until 2004, when the tax was to top out at 36 percent. The Legislature is likely to consider establishing a new statewide casino tax rate during the 2003 session, which convenes in January. Source: Des Moines Register: Bert Dalmer MASSACHUSETTS According to the executive order released by the governor's office, the commission will hold at least two public hearings in different parts of the state, as they conduct their study. The commission must submit its findings and recommendations to Swift no later than December 31, 2002. Sources: The Associated Press Executive Order No. 441 RHODE ISLAND The greyhound track and jai alai fronton are each planning major expansions that together call for more than 1,800 video gambling machines, which would nearly double the existing number of video terminals in the state. In other news, Republican candidate for governor Donald Carcieri has filed a formal information request to the state Lottery Commission, asking for a detailed accounting of the $317 million in video-gambling revenue. In his letter to the commission, Carcieri included a specific request for the "names of all Lincoln Greyhound Park kennels that received funds from the Lottery Commission or the state of Rhode Island." Lottery officials, however, contend they make a single payment on the dog owners' behalf to the Burrillville Racing Association, and have no idea how the money is split beyond that point. The day after Carcieri filed the request his new campaign ad was broadcast on local radio stations. In the ad, Carcieri asserts that legislators gave $17 million from the state-sponsored video gambling at Lincoln Greyhound Park to "a few wealthy, out-of-state greyhound owners" and "now the General Assembly's cronies on the Lottery Commission want to expand the number of video-lottery terminals." In 2001, 15 kennel operators at the Lincoln track split $13.5 million in purses that were supplemented by video gaming revenue. Lottery officials project the purses would grow to $17.5 million if and when the expansion is approved. Sources: The Providence Journal-Sentinel Las Vegas Sun WISCONSIN The tapes showed Michaud injecting greyhounds on four different days, according to a Division of Gaming memo detailing the investigation. Michaud worked for the J & C Buttes Kennel, which trains the dogs to race at the track. Janet Diercks, 40, an owner of the kennel, was fined $1,000 for helping Michaud. She also lost her owner's license for six days. The gaming division also fined Michaud for shaking and holding a greyhound by its muzzle and kicking it in its chest and foot. Gaming division administrator Scott Scepaniak said that because the state could not determine which dogs were injected or what the substance was, the penalties were not as severe as they could have been. Robert E. Mahoney, an attorney representing Michaud and Diercks, said the surveillance violated the kennel's constitutional rights. Mahoney has appealed the gaming division's decision. Scepaniak, however, said state law allows authorities to conduct searches without warrants on racetrack grounds. The evidence collected by the gaming division and the justice department was turned over to Walworth County District Attorney Phillip Koss, who is reviewing the case. Carey Theil, president of Boston-based GREY2K USA, a national greyhound advocacy organization, said, "This does make you wonder how many other kennels are participating in this activity. Dog racing is about profits and this is a good example of how the dogs' health and welfare is secondary to those profits." Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Associated Press Kaukauna: Delaware North Companies of Buffalo, New York, owner of the defunct Fox Valley Greyhound Park, has put the property up for sale, after abandoning hopes of turning the property into a casino. The property is listed with Appleton-based Bechard Group with the stipulation that it could be sold at a reduced price to a tax-exempt organization. "Since they closed in 1993, they've been going back and forth with different possibilities," said Jim Emmers, a Bechard Group broker and co-agent for the property. "The highest return was going to be selling the place to a tribe to be used as a casino. Only recently, they realized it was not going to happen politically," Emmers said. Kaukauna city officials were surprised by the Sept. 13 announcement that the track property was going on the open market. "The property has been an albatross around the city's neck for years," said City Commissioner Glenn Schilling. "We have made every effort to help Delaware North sell the property, including to the city." City officials consider the property a prime site for an industrial park. The 98-acre property at U.S. 41 and Wisconsin 55, southwest of Green Bay, includes a 90,000-square-foot building, maintenance facility, security building, and kennels. The track opened in August 1990 and closed two years later. Source: Gannet Wisconsin Newspapers: Maureen Wallenfang, Roger Pitt Madison: The 4th U. S. District Court of Appeals Sept. 18 reinstated a lawsuit filed against the state by Dairyland Greyhound Park that seeks to prevent Gov. Scott McCallum from renewing tribal gaming compacts for 11 tribes. Existing compacts begin to expire in 2003 and 2004. "We're delighted," said Roy Berger, the track's executive vice president. "Let's get this back into the courts, and get resolution. What they are saying is that this thing can basically be tried between Dairyland and the governor." The appeals court overturned Dane County Circuit Judge John Albert's dismissal of the suit in April. Albert wrote in his ruling that because the Indian tribes stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars if compacts are ended, the tribes are "necessary and indispensable" parties to Dairyland's lawsuit. McCallum is the only party named in the lawsuit. Judge David Deininger, writing for the appeals court, said the issue of the governor's authority to renew or extend gaming compacts is too important to be dismissed without a decision. "If this action is dismissed because the tribes cannot be joined as parties [because they have sovereign immunity], not only will Dairyland have no adequate remedy, but an important legal issue having significant public policy implications will evade resolution," Deininger wrote. George Lightbourn, McCallum's secretary of administration, said state officials would meet later in the month to determine whether to appeal the issue to the state Supreme Court or fight it out at the trial court level. "We're pretty confident that we will prevail on the merits of the central issue of the governor's authority to negotiate gaming compacts," Lightbourn said. Potawatomi tribal spokesman Tom Krajewski said the lawsuit is part of a far-flung effort by dog tracks to shut down Indian gaming in states such as California, Arizona, Florida, and Wisconsin. "Our concern here is that it puts at risk the jobs of 35,000 Wisconsin citizens that are employed as the result of Indian gaming. It also puts at risk the $24 million that the tribes are paying to the state in compacts," Krajewski said. The Wisconsin appeals court's ruling came on the same day the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a similar case in Arizona that tribes with gaming compacts were necessary and indispensable parties to the litigation. "Perhaps if that decision came down a week earlier, we might have had a different result in this case," Krajewski said. Sources: Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel: Dennis Chaptman Wisconsin State Journal: Ed Treleven
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