Legislative Updates Winter 2002

FLORIDA
Tallahassee: The State Supreme Court heard legal arguments Oct. 1 on a proposed ballot initiative that would legalize slot machines at pari-mutuel sites across Florida. Attorneys for No Casinos Inc., which has successfully fought gambling measures that went before voters in 1978, 1986, and 1994, argued that the measure is riddled with misleading language and should not go before voters.

Floridians for a Level Playing Field, a political action committee made up of South Florida dog tracks, has collected 151,246 valid signatures toward the 488,722 need-ed to qualify for the 2002 ballot.

In other legislative news, Thoroughbred Times magazine reported in December that "The legalization of video lottery terminals at all of Florida's pari-mutuel facilities and the deregulation of the state's entire pari-mutuel industry will be on the agenda when the Florida Legislature convenes in January."

Update: The Florida Supreme Court had not ruled on the ballot measure as of early January.

Source: Sun Sentinel: John Kennedy

IOWA
Dubuque: State Rep. David Johnson plans to sponsor a bill in January that would ask voters in three counties to decide whether wagering on live dog and horse racing should continue and whether the casino operations should survive. Johnson said the racetracks' drain on revenues is cutting into the racetrack casinos' annual cash disbursements to the communities where they operate.

Under state law, Iowa counties with legalized gambling must hold countywide referendums every eight years. The last referendum, held in 1994, established casinos at the Council Bluffs and Dubuque dog tracks in Pottawattamie and Dubuque Counties, and the Prairie Meadows horse track in Polk County. As interest in live racing has declined, the revenue from slot machines has subsidized racetrack operations.

Johnson's bill would not cut off casino operations at the three tracks if local voters decided to reject the continuation of pari-mutuel wagering. According to the bill's language, "the failure to approve the pari-mutuel wagering license does not disqualify a licensee . . . from holding a license to operate gambling games."

Source: Telegraph Herald: M.D. Kittle

KANSAS
Topeka: Phil Ruffin, the owner of Wichita Greyhound Park, has hired former State House Speaker Robin Jennison as a lobbyist. Jennison, who voted against legalizing slot machines as a legislator, said he had a change of heart and is hoping to convert some of his former colleagues.

For the past nine years gambling bills to allow either slot machines or video lottery terminals at The Woodlands and Wichita dog tracks have been defeated.

The climate now may be different, however. The Kansas City Star reported Nov. 27 that "With a fiscal crisis of bigger-than- usual proportions this year, optimism is growing that lawmakers in Topeka might finally, reluctantly, allow the Kansas Lottery to operate slot machines at the state's struggling dog tracks."

Source: The Kansas City Star: Rick Alm

RHODE ISLAND
Providence: Facing a $70 million state budget shortfall, Gov. Lincoln Almond met with legislative leaders Dec. 10 and outlined several proposed budget amendments that would save the state more than $65 million. One of those proposals would give the state a larger percentage of the revenue from video lottery terminals (VLTs) at Lincoln Greyhound Park.

Fifteen greyhound kennel owners now split about $10 million in purse money annually from 6 percent of the VLT revenue at the Lincoln track, but under Almond's proposal that money would go to the state. Almond, a longtime gambling opponent, said he has never supported the "state subsidy" to the kennel owners and would not regret the loss of greyhound racing in Rhode Island.

Almond said greyhound racing was in decline before the VLTs came to the track [in 1992], and has survived only because of revenue from the machines. "The track takes in millions of dollars each year and if track officials want to maintain greyhound racing, they can support it themselves," Almond said, adding that if they cannot do so, he would support legislation that would eliminate dog racing altogether.

Lincoln's live wagering handle fell 77 percent between 1991 and 2000, from $136.3 million to $31.5 million.

In other news, track officials met with state Lottery Commission officials in late November to formally request an additional 1,700 VLTs. If approved, the track's total would number 3,000 machines.

Source: Providence Journal-Bulletin: Edward Fitzpatrick, Bryan Rourke