Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

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.