Big victories against predatory gambling at the ballot box on Election Day Tuesday

There were some major victories against predatory gambling at the ballot box on Election Day Tuesday:

1) Florida citizens voted overwhelmingly to put the power to decide gambling expansion in the hands of the people instead of the Legislature. The state group No Casinos Florida organized the referendum and led the fight to pass it.

2) The people of Florida also voted to abolish greyhound dog racing after years of work by the greyhound protection organization Grey2K.

3) Idaho voters rejected the deceptive proposal to legalize slot machines at Idaho race tracks. Our chapter Stop Predatory Gambling Idaho played a key role in educating citizens about the issue.

4) In a history-making referendum, an Illinois community that introduced video gambling reversed that policy through a binding ballot question. Voters in Forest Park, Illinois shut down video gambling machines in their community.

There were also two efforts that did not go our way on Tuesday. In Arkansas, out-of-state gambling interests spent millions of dollars to initiate a referendum to pass regional casinos and then saturate the state with campaign advertising. And in Louisiana, sports gambling operators spent more than $1 million to lure voters in some state parishes to support "daily fantasy sports" gambling. It was a blatantly deceitful attempt to force online gambling into people's homes by disguising it as something harmless.  

I'm so proud to be a part of this just and important fight with you to improve the lives of the American people with compassion and fairness. Thank you!

Best,

Les Bernal
National Director
Stop Predatory Gambling

________________________________

Stop Predatory Gambling

Who We Are —

- A 501c3 non-profit based in Washington, DC, we are a national government reform network of individuals and organizations from across the U.S.

- We believe in improving the lives of the American people with compassion and fairness, freeing us from the lower standard of living, exploitation, and fraud that commercialized gambling spreads.

- We are one of the most diverse organizations in the United States, one in which conservatives and progressives work side-by-side with with a common national purpose.

What We Stand For —

- We believe everyone should have a fair opportunity to get ahead and improve their economic standing.

- We believe every person’s life has worth and that no one is expendable.

- We believe that a good society depends on the values of honesty, concern for others, mutual trust, self-discipline, sacrifice, and a work ethic that connects effort and reward.

- We believe no government body should depend on predatory gambling to fund its activities.

If you share our beliefs, please help sustain our work by making a tax-deductible, financial gift today of $10 or more. 

Florida asks appeals court to reconsider slot machine case

Bondi asks appeals court to reconsider slot machine case

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Published: June 12, 2015

TALLAHASSEE – Calling it a “monumental change,” Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi today asked an appeals court to reconsider a far-reaching ruling that could lead to slot machines at several dog and horse tracks.

The 1st District Court of Appeal last month ordered state regulators to award a license for slot machines to a facility in the small town of Gretna, 25 miles west of Tallahassee. The ruling stated regulators should have approved slot machines because voters in Gadsden County approved a referendum authorizing them.

The ruling was decided by a 2-1 margin, but Bondi’s office wants the entire 15-member court to review the case.

If left unchallenged, the decision could have wide impact: Voters in Lee, Brevard and Palm Beach counties as well as the north Florida counties of Hamilton and Washington have approved similar referendums. Slot machines are currently limited to south Florida tracks and casinos run by the Seminole Tribe.

Allen Winsor, the state’s solicitor general, argued in a court filing that the appeals judges misinterpreted state law.

“According to the panel majority, the Legislature intended to allow this jaw-dropping gambling expansion without any further action,” wrote Winsor.

State regulators had turned down the slot machine request due to a legal opinion by Bondi, who maintained slot machines were only allowed at tracks in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment that authorized slot machines in the two counties.

Court ruling could bring slot machines to Brevard County

WFTV - Orlando, FL

Creek Entertainment Gretna opened the track in December 2011 featuring the rodeo-style sport of barrel racing. The facility offers flat track horse racing as well as poker rooms and betting on races held at other tracks. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation turned down a request for slot machines in late 2013.

Appeals Judge Robert Benton wrote last month that regulators did not base their denial on any errors or omission in the application and instead relied on Bondi’s interpretation. He said Gadsden County was allowed to hold the referendum under a wide-ranging law passed by legislators that authorized a current agreement with the Seminole Tribe that allows them to operate card games such as blackjack.

Sen. Rob Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican, had pushed to have legislators review the ruling during an ongoing special session. But Bradley, whose committee oversees gambling issues, said today that legislative leaders decided to keep the special session focused on the state budget.

The decision could likely wind up before the Florida Supreme Court. The appeals judges in their decision asked the high court to review the case.

http://tbo.com/news/florida/bondi-asks-appeals-court-to-reconsider-slot-machine-case-20150612/

Fla. Court Urged To Revisit Slot Machine Ruling

Law360 (subscription)

A split panel ruled in May that a 2009 amendment to the Florida Constitution expands a statute which had limited slot machine gaming to Miami-Dade ...

Commissioners right to reject referendum for slot machines at Derby Lane

Editorial: Commissioners right to reject referendum for slot machines at Derby Lane

Published: August 7, 2014

Gamblers who patronize Derby Lane in Pinellas County can wager on live dog races, participate in legal poker games and place bets on horse races at tracks across the country.

But those aren’t enough options for Derby Lane’s owners, who asked the Pinellas County Commission to put a referendum on the ballot this November to allow slot machines.

Though state law forbids the machines at Derby Lane and other tracks in the area, the owners want to be ready should the law be changed during the 2015 legislative session.

Pinellas commissioners balked at the request because of the state prohibition and the logistical complications of getting a referendum on the ballot at such a late date. But they did agree to discuss the request with state lawmakers in advance of the 2015 legislative session.

We hope the county commission will think twice about encouraging more options for people to waste their money hoping for an easy score. With the offerings at Derby Lane and the Tampa Greyhound Track, and the more hard-core gaming offered at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino east of Tampa, there is no shortage of gambling options in the area.

Adding another that makes it more convenient for someone to lose their paycheck is bad public policy.

Derby Lane says the slots will make them more competitive with the Hard Rock, where the machines number in the thousands and are allowed under an agreement between the state and the Seminole tribe that owns the casinos. The track says it needs the revenue.

A similar referendum request by Derby Lane in 2012 ended when a state Senate bill allowing slots at parimutuel facilities such as Derby Lane failed to pass.

As the Tribune’s Christopher O’Donnell reports, the owners approached Commissioner Susan Latvala recently about bringing the referendum request back to the board. Latvala says she is against the casino-type gambling but considers slot machines less of a concern.

But that is flawed logic. Gambling is gambling, whether at a high-stakes casino table or on a stool in front of slot machines, which have been called “video crack” for their addictiveness. Because the machines are cheap to play they exploit the poor, who can least afford to gamble away their money.

Derby Lane has increasingly turned to gambling to keep its doors open. The owners appealed to commissioners by saying hundreds employees might lose their jobs if business doesn’t pick up. But commissioners, and state lawmakers, need to consider the corrosive social effects of expanding the gambling options in our communities.

We would prefer gambling be illegal in the state. But lacking that, our elected officials should set policies that contain the vice rather than encourage its expansion.



http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-editorials/editorial-commissioners-right-to-reject-referendum-for-slot-machines-at-derby-lane-20140807/

As Southland flourishes, dog racing's future nationwide remains unclear

• Associated Press
• Posted July 10, 2014

Photo by Lynne Sladky

LYNNE SLADKY/Associated Press Greyhounds run at the Flagler Dog Track in Miami, where racing’s popularity has waned with gamblers who now prefer casinos.

 

America’s dog racing business, at once doomed and propped up by casino gambling, has reached the crossroads


     Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal Mike Miller, dealer at Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis, works his table in one of the gaming areas of the park. "They could set a dangerous precedent for all breeds of racing," said Lonny Powell, chief executive of Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, who worked for years as a regulator of dog races. At the Flagler Dog Track in Florida, a mural-sized photograph celebrates the good old days, decades gone: Men and women in their finest clothes lean against the fence to catch a glimpse of the greyhounds, the stands emblazoned with red, white and blue bunting, radio men perched in a booth to bring the action to fans at home.

COMMENT:

The greyhound racing industry treats dogs like running machines. For the few minutes that a dog spends on a track during a race, he or she will spend many hours confined to a cramped cage or kennel. Thousands of greyhounds die each year—some in the name of “selective breeding”—before they ever touch a racetrack. Many dogs do not make it to the nominal “retirement” age of 4 or 5.

Sickness and injuries—including broken legs, heatstroke, and heart attacks—claim the lives of many dogs. Although they are extremely sensitive to temperature because of their lack of body fat and thin coats, greyhounds are forced to race in extreme conditions—ranging from subzero temperatures to sweltering heat of more than 100 degrees.

Gaming lawsuit about 'fairness of law' Raynham Park owner George Carney says

Taunton Gazette File Photo | Rory Schuler |

George Carney owner of Raynham Park.

By Joseph Markman
The Enterprise
Gerry Tuoti
Wicked Local Newsbank Editor
Posted May. 15, 2014



RAYNHAM — George Carney says the lawsuit he filed last week to block Penn National Gaming from opening its planned gambling facility in Plainville is not about sour grapes.

“I don’t file frivolous lawsuits,” Carney said. “I thought long and hard before I filed the suit because I realize I have to deal with the Gaming Commission on a daily basis.”

Dog racing, once a major draw at Raynham Park, was banned by voters in 2010. Since then the park has remained open largely by way of revenue from simulcast racing, in which guests bet on dog and horse races happening in other states.

Carney said he has not heard from the commission since filing suit, and said he is not concerned about angering regulators with his lawsuit.

“I am strong enough to handle and conduct a good operation here,” he said.

The lawsuit, filed last Friday, calls for the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to revoke the slots license issued to Penn National. The commission awarded the slots license to Penn National in March on a 3-2 vote, with Carney’s Raynham Park getting no votes.

Carney claims that Ourway Realty, the disqualified former owner of Plainridge Racecourse, will continue to profit once the slots parlor opens in 2015.

The Gaming Commission banned Ourway from seeking a license last summer after state investigators accused Plainridge president Gary Piontkowski of pocketing more than $1 million from the track’s cash room over a 10-year period.

The lawsuit claims an agreement between Ourway and Springfield Gaming will provide Piontkowski a percentage of the gambling operation’s earnings “in perpetuity.”

“If you were disqualified on a Monday, they shouldn’t put you back in on Tuesday,” Carney said. “You’re either in or you’re out.”

Spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said Thursday that the commission has been formally notified of the lawsuit, but that she could not comment on pending litigation beyond saying that the commission’s attorneys are reviewing the matter.

Penn National, which operates casinos and slots parlors in several states, plans to open the $225 million Plainridge Park Casino by next spring.

Eric Schippers, a spokesman for Penn National, said in a statement earlier this week that Carney’s claims are “legally and factually deficient.”

“Given that the Carney proposal did not garner even a single vote, I’m not sure what they’re ultimately trying to accomplish,” Schippers said.

Carney said that if Penn’s license is rescinded he hopes to be back in the running, but could not say for certain.

“That I couldn’t give you the answer to,” Carney said. “Whether I’m chosen or not chosen again, that’s not the issue.”

Gerry Tuoti is the Regional Newsbank Editor for GateHouse Media New England. Email him at gtuoti@tauntongazette.com or call him at 508-967-3137.

http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20140515/NEWS/140517224/11155/NEWS

Bill to End Dog Racing Passes in Iowa Senate

Just as with horse racing, attendance and revenues are declining at tracks that still allow Greyhound racing.

Taxpayer subsidies are necessary to keep racing alive. Maybe it's time to end it.

Bill to End Dog Racing Passes in Iowa Senate

Story Created: Apr 25, 2014 at 8:51 PM CDT

 

 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Senate has passed a bill that would end greyhound racing in Council Bluffs but allow dog owners to continue operating a track in Dubuque.

The bill passed 46-2 and moves to the House.

It was placed on the legislative fast-track this week after casinos in the two towns negotiated a deal with the Iowa Greyhound Association that creates a $36 million retirement fund for dog owners and breeders who want to get out of the business. It allocated another $36 million to help the association negotiate a lease for the Dubuque track and try to keep dog racing alive.

The casinos spend millions of dollars a year to subsidize dog racing which has seen betting decline dramatically in the last decade and will pay the money to end racing.

Read more: http://www.kcrg.com/home/top-9/Bill-to-End-Dog-Racing-Passes-in-Iowa-Senate-256787231.html#ixzz305RV82jm

On casinos, SJC holds trump card

By Joan Vennochi

| Globe Columnist April 20, 2014

 

Lane Turner/Globe staff/file 2013

Guy Romano (left) and Nancy Wojick (center) held signs opposing a casino in Milford.


THE SUPREME Judicial Court is the next and last stand in the battle to keep casinos out of Massachusetts.

If you have any doubts, listen to former mayor Thomas M. Menino, talking last week on WBZ-TV’s “Keller at Large.” Asked by host Jon Keller if voters will still support casinos in Massachusetts if the SJC allows a ballot measure on the question to go forward in November, Menino said, “I really believe that if it goes on the ballot, it’ll lose.”

 

“If it goes on the ballot” is entirely up to the SJC, which is scheduled to hear arguments on that question in early May. After a year of controversy and confusion over the license-granting process, recent polls show slippage in support.

If Menino — once the key political force behind a casino in East Boston and always an astute reader of public opinion — now believes the tide has turned enough to trigger repeal, the industry must be nervous. So nervous that it is determined to keep the question off the ballot.

Last August, the group that wants to kill casinos filed a petition with Attorney General Martha Coakley. It proposed a law that would essentially overturn the expanded gambling law passed by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2011. In September, Coakley — the current front-runner in the Democratic race to be governor — blocked the petition. In a ruling that essentially put the AG on the side of gaming, she argued that the millions that casino operators put on the table to take part in the state’ s licensing process amounts to an “implied contract.” Therefore, if the ballot question wins and the law is repealed, the outcome amounts to an unfair and unconstitutional taking of property.

Put aside the irony of trying to protect from risk the investments of an industry that makes its fortune off other people’s risks.

The “No Casino” group, which appealed Coakley’s ruling, contends the weight of the law falls on the side of the people and their right to vote. According to the brief they filed with the SJC, Coakley’s argument of an “implied contract” runs up against a US Supreme Court decision — Stone v. Mississippi. The case, which goes back to 1879, eerily echoes the circumstances at issue in Massachusetts today.

 

In Stone, the Mississippi legislature granted a 25-year charter to a lottery company in exchange for an initial $5,000 fee, an annual $1,000 tax, and a percentage of receipts from the sale of tickets. A year later, voters adopted a new state Constitution which outlawed lotteries. The holder of the lottery charter argued that it had contracted with the state to operate a lottery and that the new Mississippi Constitution violated it and, with it, the contract clause of the US Constitution.

But the Supreme Court ruled that no contract existed. The fundamental principle, which the SJC has adopted, is that the state cannot bargain away, even by express grant, the right to exercise its police powers to protect the public welfare, said Thomas O. Bean, one of the lead lawyers for the “No Casino” plaintiffs.

In Massachusetts, there is more recent precedent. The SJC ruled in a 2008 case that owners of a dog-racing track had “no compensable property” in their racing license after voters approved a ballot question banning dog racing.

The ballot initiative process followed by “No Casino” advocates was added to the state Constitution almost 100 years ago. It allows citizens to adopt laws they want enacted, or repeal those with which they disagree. After gathering nearly 70,000 signatures, casino repeal backers are hoping that Menino’s prediction holds true. But first, they have to get the question before the voters.

But there are huge business interests at stake, and the casino industry is rallying to protect them. MGM Resorts, for example, has asked the state gambling commission to delay the formal award of its license until after the SJC makes a ruling. The license award would trigger some $200 million in obligations to Massachusetts. MGM doesn’t want to pay that sum — and still risk losing the right to build a casino if the ballot measure goes forward and is approved by voters.

This is an industry that understands risk better than any other. To improve its odds of cashing in, it must stop the people from cashing out. How lucky that, on the next legal battlefield — before the SJC — gaming has the state’s AG on its side.



http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2014/04/19/casinos-next-draw-sjc/z1xHeIAlP5NgCJAlGODyAJ/story.html

Don't bet on a fix to Florida's gambling rules anytime soon

Douglas C. Lyons: Don't bet on a fix to Florida's gambling rules anytime soon

Douglas C. Lyons Sun Sentinel Senior Editorial Writer

April 12, 2014

There are still three weeks left in the legislative session, but if I were a betting man, I'd say the chances for a major overhaul of Florida's gambling laws in the near future are nil.

Last week, the Florida Senate dropped its big gambling-reform bill. The votes weren't there to move the bill out of it's first committee. This week, House Speaker Will Weatherford slammed the door on any gambling bills coming out of the Legislature.

Somewhere Gov. Rick Scott is smiling. He wasn't thrilled about having the final say on a bill that creates a new gaming commission or allows casino-resorts set up shop in South Florida. Gambling expansion is still a dicey subject, particularly in an election year.

I've followed the many twists and turns of the state's "efforts" to better regulate a part of Florida's economy that over the years has grown — pretty much like melaleuca. Gambling creep is a reality in our family-friendly state, but our state's leaders don't seem in a hurry to find a solution.

I've sat through hours of public testimony with state senators who dutifully listened but probably wished they were somewhere else. I've watched House members set up "information-sessions" at pari-mutuels only to cancel them because of the lawmakers' lack of interest.

 

I've followed the many twists and turns of the state's "efforts" to better regulate a part of Florida's economy that over the years has grown — pretty much like melaleuca. Gambling creep is a reality in our family-friendly state, but our state's leaders don't seem in a hurry to find a solution.

I've sat through hours of public testimony with state senators who dutifully listened but probably wished they were somewhere else. I've watched House members set up "information-sessions" at pari-mutuels only to cancel them because of the lawmakers' lack of interest.

 

I've flipped through the Spectrum Gaming Group's Gambling Impact Study, the $400,000 analysis paid by Florida taxpayers that is full of interesting gambling trivia but lacking in any clear policy direction. Don't blame the authors. That's the way the lawmakers wanted it. Go figure.

[Spectrum only soaked Massachusetts taxpayers $180,000....oh...but then got paid to 'advise' the Gambling Commission.]

I also poured through Scott's "Let's Get to Work" political committee website and found thousands and thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from — and please forgive the pun — just about everyone who has a dog in that race. Gaming has been very very good to the governor.

It's been a long road, and I have the scars to prove it. So, allow me a few takeaways

•The pari-mutuels got zilch. They didn't get any of the incentives they wanted to boost gaming operations or develop their properties. Fat chance if they will do better next year in competing with the destination casinos that want in and the Seminole Tribe of Florida that's already here.

•Kiss dog racing goodbye. Over half of the nation's dog tracks are in Florida, and most of them are losing money on greyhound racing. The industry wanted lawmakers to change the law to allow them to run fewer races and keep their more lucrative cardrooms and slot machines.

Those odds are long to be polite, and next year's prospects won't be any easier, particularly if lawmakers seriously consider an idea from Sen.Tom Lee, R-Bradenton, who suggested the state simply outlaw greyhound racing and have track owners apply for new gambling licenses.

[In Massachusetts, taxpayers continue to subsidize greyhound owners for the outlawed industry.]

•The Seminole Tribe holds all the cards. Scott got in the game late in negotiating a new "table games" provision. So it'll be interesting to see if he can cut a better deal than the current one that gives the state $1 billion over a five-year period in exchange for the tribe's big competitive advantage over the pari-mutuels. Advantage: Seminoles.

•So does Central Florida. Orlando is home of one of the nation's largest convention-center venues, and they don't want to lose business to a budding gaming mecca in South Florida. By the way, guess where Andy Gardiner, the next Senate President lives? Hint: think Mickey Mouse. Steve Crisafulli, the incoming House Speaker, lives down the road in Brevard County.

Lost in all this is the simple fact that our state gambling regulations are a hot mess. For the past two years, the Legislature pondered and pontificated. With little time left in the session, state lawmakers finally rolled the dice and crapped out.

Doug Lyons can be reached at 954 356-4638 or by email at dlyons@sun-sentinel.com., or on Twitter @douginflorida

Editor's Note: A month ago, Doug Lyons appeared on WPBT-Channel 2 Issues to talk about gambling. Compare those comments with this column at Sun-Sentinel.com/Floridasgamble.



http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-dlcol-gambling-20140412,0,171408.column

Iowa casinos must spend millions to support dog racing

Iowa casinos must spend millions to support dog racing

By Paul Brennan / March 6, 2014

 

By Paul Brennan | Iowa Watchdog

DES MOINES, Iowa — If a dog at one of Iowa’s two remaining greyhound racetracks were in the same shape as those racetracks’ finances, it would be euthanized on the spot.

Both greyhound racetracks lose millions of dollars each year, only remaining open because state law requires the casinos to which the tracks are attached to maintain greyhound racing.

Last year, the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs spent almost $10 million to cover losses at its Bluffs Run Greyhound Park. The much smaller Mystique, a nonprofit casino in Dubuque, spent more than $4 million last year to keep the dogs running at its racetrack.

Both casinos grew out of the greyhound racetracks they now financially prop up. In 1994, the Iowa Legislature amended state gaming laws to allow casino games at racetracks, which were experiencing a decline in business. The continuation of greyhound racing at both locations was required.

As casinos prospered, the racetracks continued to decline. Betting at the two racetracks has fallen by 97 percent since they first opened in the 1980’s.

Photo by Alex Lapuerta

GOING TO THE DOGS: Iowa law mandates two of the state’s casino spend millions each year to prop up the state’s money-losing greyhound racetracks.

Bills now before the House and Senate — seemingly stalled at the moment — would drop the greyhound racing requirement for the two casinos in exchange for those businesses paying $70 million over seven years into a fund to assist greyhound breeders and others affected by the end of state-mandated dog racing.

The city councils of both Dubuque and Council Bluffs support dropping the requirement, as do the chambers of commerce of the two cities.

Opposing the change is the Iowa Greyhound Association, which represents breeders, handlers and others involved in greyhound racing. The IGA led successful efforts in 2010 and 2012 to defeat bills that would have dropped the racing mandate.

“Those casinos — which are very valuable properties, worth hundreds of millions of dollars — wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t provided the votes to get them their licenses,” Jerry Crawford, attorney for the IGA, told Iowa Watchdog. “And the agreement was that in exchange for our support, they would support greyhound racing forever.”

But the IGA didn’t support the 1994 change that brought casino games to tracks simply as a gesture of goodwill to casino interests. By that time, the three greyhound racetracks then in Iowa were well in decline.

A year before the law was changed, the Waterloo Greyhound Park filed for bankruptcy. In 1996, it went out of business.

The remaining parks were in better shape, but their best days already were behind them by the time their casinos opened their doors.

According to figures from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, betting at the Council Bluffs track peaked in 1987. Betting in Dubuque reached its peak in 1988.

Asked if greyhound racing would have survived in Iowa without the casinos, Crawford said it was impossible to know, but he did suggest it might have given careful management and proper promotion.

One thing Crawford was clear on is that the $70-million fund the casinos would pay in assistance money doesn’t make the bills before the Legislature more appealing to the IGA.

“Our members would rather work,” Crawford said. “We don’t want to see millions of dollars that could stay in Iowa go to an out-of-state company.”

Crawford was referring to Caesars Entertainment, which operates the casino and dog track in Council Bluffs. The IGA maintains that Caesars will be the ultimate beneficiary if the mandate in dropped.
But at a news conference at the state Capitol last week, civic leaders from Dubuque and Council Bluffs stressed the local benefits that would come from eliminating the mandate.

As a nonprofit casino, the Mystique’s profits are split between Dubuque and local charities and nonprofits. Ending greyhound racing would increase the casino’s profits by millions each year.

In Council Bluffs, city leaders are eager to have the site of the greyhound racetrack, located at a prime spot near Interstate 80, available for redevelopment.

Leaders from both cities said they wanted to eliminate the dog racing mandate so their casinos can compete more effectively in the increasingly crowded gaming market.

“Greyhound racing is the Blockbuster Video of the gaming industry,” Rick Dickinson, president and CEO of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, said at the press conference.

Like Blockbuster, greyhound racing is declining “because the industry is changing around them,” Dickinson said. “Customers have voted with their feet.”

In the past decade, more than half the greyhound tracks in the United States have closed. In addition to the two in Iowa, only 19 remain open, and many of them have added other forms of gambling to help keep the doors open.

That the bills to repeal the greyhound racing mandate seem to be stalled in the Legslature doesn’t surprise Dickinson, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives.

“The other side is very good,” he told Iowa Watchdog. “They have the best lobbyists, make strategic investments with their campaign contributions and leverage their personal relationships with lawmakers.”

If the greyhound racing mandate does survive the legislative session, civic leaders from Dubuque and Council Bluffs say they will continue to push for its repeal.

And last week, they acquired a powerful ally.

At his weekly press conference, Gov. Terry Branstad called greyhound racing a “dying industry” and said he supported closing the racetracks, as long as the people who work in the racing industry were compensated.

http://watchdog.org/131198/dog-racing-mandate/

GREY2K joins fight against casinos

GREY2K joins fight against casinos
By Marc Larocque

Taunton Gazette Staff Reporter

Posted Oct 31, 2013

 

TAUNTON —

The group behind the 2008 ballot initiative banning greyhound racing in Massachusetts is now working to repeal the state gambling legislation that could bring slot machines and economic rejuvenation to Raynham Park.

Arlington-based GREY2K USA, which calls itself the largest greyhound protection organization, announced on Thursday that it now supports a campaign to stop casinos from coming to the state.

Carey Theil, executive director of GREY2K USA, said although his organization does not have an official position on casino gambling in general, the nonprofit is backing the Repeal the Casino Deal coalition now working to add a ballot question to the November 2014 election that would repeal the law legalizing three casinos and one slot casino in Massachusetts. Theil said that the reason his organization support the Repeal the Casino Deal campaign is because the proposed ballot question would “undo the backroom deal” allowing greyhound simulcast betting to continue in the state.

Raynham Park, after officially losing the right to host greyhound racing in 2010, was still allowed to provide simulcast betting on greyhound races held elsewhere. Theil said when state voters passed the ballot initiative banning greyhound racing, the intent and spirit of the law was not to support greyhound racing through simulcast betting.

“Greyhound racing is a thing of the past,” Theil said. “It’s a cruel activity that is dying all over the country. The voters have spoken. It’s decided. The only place where this issue is not decided is the backrooms up on Beacon Hill. I’m disappointed that this issue is going to have to go back before voters but we have no choice.”

Theil said his group feels for those who were economically hurt by the vote.

“We certainly have sympathy for the individuals who were affected,” Theil said. “But the fact is this was an industry that was cruel and inhumane. Voters had facts about that with info specific to the state, with sources like state records, news reports and the industry themselves.”

When asked about the announcement from GREY2K, Raynham Park spokesman Connor Yunits said,
“We have no comment.”

The Repeal the Casino group has started collecting the roughly 69,000 signatures needed to put the question on the November 2014 ballot. However, some observers say even if the group gets the needed signatures within the two-month deadline, the efforts could die in court.

The anti-casino group believes gambling is bad for the community and that it is an industry that harms families and increases crime. Casino proponents have said the gambling legislation will provide thousands of jobs, and gamblers are already spending their money in Connecticut and Rhode Island casinos.

Attorney General Martha Coakley previously ruled their ballot question unconstitutional. In her Sept. 4 decision, Coakley said applicants for a casino license — who pay an initial $400,000 fee — have “implied contracts” with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and those contracts are considered property. So a ban on casinos would be an unconstitutional taking of property.

[This is the same bogus argument that was previously tossed out. How come it seems the AG didn't oppose the ballot question until Doug Rubin became her campaign manager? How come the AG isn't investigating Sticky Finger Piontkowski? What is she hiding?]

Casino opponents have appealed Coakley’s decision, saying her opinion defies legal precedent. But their appeal to the state's Supreme Judicial Court won’t be heard until after the Nov. 20 deadline for collecting signatures.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x915439086/GREY2K-joins-fight-against-casinos

 

Gambling Debate Entangles Disney in Florida

Edward Linsmier for The New York Times

Disney World in Florida. The Walt Disney Company has long argued that gambling tarnishes the state’s family-friendly brand.

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ and MICHAEL SNYDER

Published: October 26, 2013

 

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Just around the corner from the poker room and within shouting distance of the greyhound track here at the Mardi Gras Casino, the Amazing Spider-Man slot machine beckons gamblers with its spinning masked superhero and his nemesis the Green Goblin.

 

At the touch of a button, this Spider-Man can pay out fortunes or, more typically, deplete wallets.

 

But in the recently renewed battle over casino gambling in Florida this year, the popular Spider-Man slot machine delivers a different sort of jolt altogether. Spider-Man is one of a stable of Marvel superheroes that the Walt Disney Company acquired for $4 billion in 2009 and that continue to appear on slot machines, Internet slot machines and state lottery tickets. The lottery tickets have featured Iron Man and the Avengers.

      

Disney, a powerhouse in Florida because of its financial might and its sway over the tourism industry, has long led the fight against the expansion of casinos in the state, arguing successfully that gambling tarnishes Florida’s coveted family-friendly brand.

 

This year is no exception. For the second time in two years, state lawmakers are preparing to decide whether Las Vegas-style resort casinos should be allowed to open in Florida, a move that Disney hopes to thwart again. The company is so opposed to gambling that not even Disney cruise ships offer casinos, a mainstay of major cruise liners.

      

But in a nation increasingly awash in various forms of gambling, Disney is finding that keeping a constantly growing entertainment conglomerate completely removed from gambling is far more challenging than it used to be.

 

Asked whether Disney’s ties to the gambling industry, through Marvel, undercut its position on casino gambling, a Marvel spokeswoman said last week that the company planned to shed its connection to slot machines when the various licensing agreements expire. On Saturday, the spokeswoman added that Marvel had signed its last slot machine deal two years ago.

 

Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk and others will begin to disappear from casinos and Internet gambling sites over the next “few years,” the spokeswoman said.

 

“Marvel discontinued plans to initiate or renew slot machine licensing arrangements as part of its integration with Disney,” the spokeswoman said. “The handful of remaining license agreements have expiration dates within the next few years.”

 

The spokeswoman also said late Saturday that Marvel currently has no active lottery deals and does not plan to sign any new one. Disney also faces a similar issue with its $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm last year. “Star Wars” characters, which have been featured in Disney parks for years, are also widely used in slot machines.

 

On Thursday, a Disney spokeswoman said the decision not to renew Lucasfilm and Marvel licensing agreements once they expired had been made recently. It had not previously been made public.

      

In the years since Disney’s acquisition of Marvel, gambling opponents and the company’s critics, including those seeking to open Vegas-style casinos in Florida, have accused Disney of being disingenuous in its campaign against casinos as new slot machines rolled out. Its competitors argue that Disney fears competition more than gambling.

 

“Disney’s internecine warfare against integrated resorts in Florida under this pretense demeans them significantly,” said Michael A. Leven, the president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which seeks to open a casino in South Florida.

      

A spokeswoman for Walt Disney World, Andrea M. Finger, said it could take several years for policies to align after two corporations merged, always a complex endeavor. But she said Disney’s commitment to keeping Vegas-style resorts out of the state was unwavering.

      

“We oppose the legalization of so-called destination resort casinos because this major expansion of gambling is inconsistent with Florida’s reputation as a family-friendly destination,” Ms. Finger said.

 

The decision that Disney, through Marvel and Lucasfilm, will phase out its slot machine licensing agreements comes at a pivotal time for Disney and its biggest allies, the influential Florida Chamber of Commerce and No Casinos, a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping more casinos out of Florida. The groups are engaged in the latest chapter of a battle over the expansion of large casinos in Florida, an issue awash in lobbyists and money.

 

Gambling is already commonplace in Florida. The Seminole Tribe, which owns the Hard Rock brand, has seven large and small casinos in Florida with some table games but no roulette or craps.

 

Thoroughbred and greyhound racetracks, and jai alai frontons, all feature poker rooms, and in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, the so-called racinos, like Mardi Gras, also offer slot machines.

The racinos also oppose Vegas-style casino gambling expansion.

      

Despite a decision last year to waylay a bill on expansion after fierce lobbying by Disney and others, the Legislature is now poised to take up the issue again. The decision stems in large part from the fact that the state’s five-year agreement with the Seminole Tribe expires in 2015. The agreement gives the tribe exclusive rights to table games like blackjack in their casinos. (Slot machines are covered under a separate agreement.) In exchange, the tribe pays the state $1 billion over five years.

 

The state and the tribe will soon have to negotiate a new agreement. Competition from full-scale private casinos in the state could scramble the deal and drain the state of $233 million a year, from the tribe, with no guarantee that tax money from expanded private casinos would offset the loss.

 

For Disney, the debate over casinos has grown more difficult in the past year as its relationship with Marvel becomes more obvious to theme park visitors and other Disney customers.

      

“Hypocrisy is in the eye of the beholder,” said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Law Center and an expert on gambling law. “If they were honest, they would just come out and say, it’s Business 101. We’re trying to protect our turf, and we’ve always attempted to do that.”

 

Marvel merchandise has been sold in Disney stores and gift shops since shortly after the Marvel acquisition. Now Marvel’s superheroes, including Iron Man and Thor, will soon be featured alongside Disney princesses and Mickey Mouse in some Disney parks. In November, Thor will become the first Marvel character to greet visitors at Disneyland in California. Captain America is expected on cruise ships soon.

 

Because of an existing agreement with Universal Studios, Disney World in Orlando cannot feature live Marvel characters or create Marvel rides. But merchandise is available.

 

The fact that Marvel characters crop up around the country in lottery tickets further complicates the issue for Disney. In Colorado this spring, shoppers could buy scratch-off lottery tickets featuring Iron Man. And in Idaho and Texas, the Avengers were featured on scratch-off tickets.

 

While some consider lottery tickets a benign form of gambling, Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, said scratch-off tickets are a “gateway” to more serious gambling. Some tickets are even sold in vending machines, making them easily accessible to children, Mr. Whyte said.

 

For John Sowinski, the president of No Casinos, Disney critics are using the slot machine issue simply to distract.

      

“They want to change the subject,” he said of the large-casino interests. “They don’t want to have a discussion about the merits of the issue. If Disney wanted to be in the gambling business, they would be, on their cruise ships and elsewhere.”

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/us/gambling-debate-entangles-disney-in-florida.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0