DN Editorial: Race-horse industry whinnies and nays
LAST WEEK, the State Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Foxwoods Casino over the revocation of its gaming license in the city. This opens up a boxful of questions about the fate of the last remaining gambling license in the state and whether it should go to a second city casino or be open for bids from around the state.
LAST WEEK, the State Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Foxwoods Casino over the revocation of its gaming license in the city. This opens up a boxful of questions about the fate of the last remaining gambling license in the state and whether it should go to a second city casino or be open for bids from around the state.
Frankly, although that's a question that will have a big potential impact on the city, the Legislature should take its time deciding this. Meanwhile, we hope it'll also consider an even bigger question about the spoils of the gaming act, prompted by the latest revenue report from the state Gaming Control Board.
Tuesday, the board announced that slot-machine revenue for March exceeded $233 million - an all-time monthly high since gaming was legalized in 2006. That's notable because revenues from gaming have been on a steady upward curve, netting the state $10 billion in slots revenue alone, and close to a $1 billion in gross revenues from table games, legalized in 2010.
Despite our continued bafflement at how well gaming has fared in an economic downturn, our pocketbooks aren't complaining, since some of the proceeds from gaming result in a cut to our city wage taxes (the rest of the state gets property-tax cuts).
But there is one group that is unhappy with their winnings: the state horse-race industry.
Gaming was first legalized in order to save this industry; the original act, called the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, gave the industry a 12 percent cut from the proceeds of slots.
How well has it done? In the six years since legalized gambling, the state's horse race industry has netted a staggering $1 billion.
Recently, perhaps recognizing that this exceeded expectations, Gov. Corbett proposed taking $74 million from this $1 billion and transferring it to other agricultural programs in the state. That's on top of a deal in 2009 to take $47 million from the fund and send it to the general fund until next year.
The industry's reaction: lots of whinnying and naying.
According to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the Pennsylvania Equine Coalition called this "a devastating blow" to the growth of the state's horse-breeding and racing industry.
We call that horsesh$%#.
First of all, $1 billion ain't hay. And as far as we know, there is no full audit or accounting of how that money has been spent. Based on a recent annual report from the Department of Agriculture, horse-race attendance has fallen off or been stagnant. It's time we asked how an industry that has gotten more than $160 million a year for six years can account for how effectively it's spent that money. To say nothing of asking about the wisdom of giving this huge amount of money to an industry that is, after all, based on gambling. We hope the state Legislature gets some horse sense on this, fast.
