Monday, March 12, 2007

Opponents of legalized casino gambling had a chance to make their case at
the state's first legislative oversight committee meeting, held Thursday
morning at the Woodlands Inn & Resort. But their warnings of doom were
overwhelmed by support for Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs as an economic spark
and a committed corporate citizen. During his allotted 10-minute
presentation, Bill Kearney, a fierce gambling foe from Philadelphia,
discounted the contention that casino gambling is just a harmless form of
entertainment. "This ain't the ball field. This ain't going to the theater,"
Kearney said. Instead, he described gambling as a business designed simply
to separate people from their money. Kearney, who says he is a former
compulsive gambler in Atlantic City casinos, has particular criticism of
player cards and other complimentary services that provide incentives for
gambling more. "This is their syringe," he said as he waved a card to a
dozen members of the House Gaming Oversight Committee who attended the
session. "The more you gamble, the more they're going to give you." Kearney
also is championing a bill that would force casinos to send monthly or
quarterly statements to patrons. "Let the people see what they're doing," he
said. "This statement would be preventative medicine." State Rep. Fred
McIlhattan, R-Armstrong County, pressed Downs president Robert Soper on
whether it was feasible to provide patrons with statements of their gambling
activity. Soper replied that doing so would hurt Pennsylvania casinos,
already taxed at 55 percent or more, by adding the expense of producing and
mailing statements. And, he argued, there is no demand for the service.
"Entertainment is about providing what your customers want," Soper said, and
in his experience patrons haven't asked for statements. "If a customer wants
to know how much they play, they can call us." Kearney contends statements
mailed to gamblers' homes might alert family members to potential problems
before they get out of hand. "Why are we waiting for the casualties?" he
asked.
David Lee, executive director of United Way of Wyoming Valley, does not see
a deterrent effect against problem gambling in statements. "It's not like
people don't know" what they are spending, he said after the hearing. A
professional therapist, Lee said in his experience people must recognize
they have a problem before they can be helped. "To a certain degree I have
to wait until a person says, 'I need help,' " he said. To stay ahead of
potential problems, Lee said Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has helped fund
training for 20 additional clinicians, some of them to become certified
trainers in their own right.

So far they haven't been needed; Lee said his agency has not seen an
increase in demand for treatment of problem gamblers.

Lee said he has been surprised by how many people he knows enjoy going to
the casino, "just as they say about the hockey team" and other entertainment
venues.

During his presentation Soper outlined the economic benefits provided by
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, which opened a temporary facility - the state's
first operating casino - on Nov. 14. He said the casino was drawing an
average of more than 6,000 patrons a day, about half of them coming from
outside Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

More than 400 jobs have been created so far, and he said 600 more would be
needed to staff a permanent casino that will be finished late this year or
early in 2008. In addition, the entire construction project will employ
3,500 workers and the casino spends significant amounts with local vendors
and service providers - approximately $500,000 in January alone, Soper said.

Luzerne County Commissioner Todd Vonderheid and Plains Township Commissioner
Chairman Ron Filippini echoed Lee's praise for the casino and both said
there have been no problems beyond minor auto accidents in the parking lot.

Plains Township will receive about $2.2 million this year from special local
taxes paid by the casino. Filippini said the first payment of more than
$295,000 came in the same day township officials were trying to figure out
how to handle $20,000 in overtime costs caused by the Valentine's Day
snowstorm.

He said most of the money will be used to address infrastructure and
emergency services that have suffered in part because the township tax rate
is at the state maximum. Already two police officers have been added to the
force.

The hearing became testy when state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, who
served as the host for the session, took Kearney to task for his
characterization of Northeastern Pennsylvanians as "hillbillies" who would
be easy marks for gambling interests.

"The people of the Wyoming Valley are not hillbillies," he said sternly to
Kearney at the opening of a question-and-answer session. Backing down
slightly, Kearney said he was referring to the lack of experience with a
gambling facility locally.

Soper had led committee members and staff on a tour of the casino Wednesday.
The majority of the 28-member committee did not attend the hearing.