Sunday, February 04, 2007

Industry leaders teamed with local officials this week to tout casino-style
gambling as the doorway to more jobs and tourist bucks, while fighting off
slot machine competition in cross-border Pennsylvania. Before they spoke,
bipartisan bills surfaced in both the House of Delegates and Senate seeking
local option referendums in the dog-and-horse track counties of Ohio,
Jefferson, Kanawha and Hancock. And it appears the House - normally the
dead-end of such legislation - is taking the lead this time. New Judiciary
Chair Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, reserved the House chamber for an afternoon
hearing Thursday and indicated she intended to work the bill in her
committee next week. Is this the year the measure escapes the Legislature?
"If this isn't, I'll be shocked," said Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, who
represents one county directly affected. "I really believe the people in the
areas of the four tracks and people want this. We've been working for three
years now. It's an issue that simply says, just let us have the right to
vote in our counties." Those same four counties would gladly allow any other
county to exercise the same power at the ballot box, Bowman said. John
Cavacini, president of the West Virginia Racing Association, suggested the
opposition is firing blanks at the idea by demanding a statewide
constitutional change to accommodate casino gambling. Already, he said,
voters have exercised similar votes in eight counties, with five losing and
three passing, and "the most notable" was the defeat of casino gambling in
2000 at The Greenbrier in Greenbrier County. "We already have a table games
statute on the books in the state of West Virginia," he said. "So the issue
of table games has been addressed by previous legislators. The process
worked. The racetracks are asking the Legislature to give us the same
opportunity that they gave the citizens of Greenbrier County in 2000, and
this is to allow citizens of racetrack counties to vote on adding table
games." With pressure coming from Pennsylvania's slot machines, he warned,
West Virginia could lose a revenue stream of $423 million, while local
governments stand to sacrifice some $17 million. The tracks face the lose of
$17 million in its purse, he said. Cavacini portrayed the tracks as "an
integral part" of the tourism industry, pointing out 12 million
non-residents visited the tracks last year, not just to gamble, but to take
in a variety of amenities from live entertainment to restaurants and
athletic events such as boxing. Charleston Mayor Danny Jones agreed,
saying, "If you don't think this attracts people, you don't know much about
the motor coach business."

Jones said each of the four counties could add that many good-paying jobs
with health care benefits by adding table games.

"Tell these legislators to 'let's save these jobs, let's expand this
business in West Virginia, and let's help these people keep their jobs.
Let's
vote.'"

Hancock County Commissioner Dan Greathouse portrayed Mountaineer Track as a
good neighbor, making up shortfalls in the United Way's budget, giving money
to boys and girls clubs and buying holiday turkeys for the jobless.