Moral Side

Critical Moment for Gambling Expansion in Kentucky

Kentucky is approaching a critical moment regarding the push to expand gambling in the Commonwealth as Governor Steve Beshear, who wants to see as many as nine casinos across the state, is now saying he has the twenty-three votes he needs in the state Senate to approve a proposal to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. Another count of senators by the Family Foundation of Kentucky says the governor does not have the votes he needs.

No matter which count you go by, the tally is close, which means it is absolutely crucial that Kentuckians let their voices be heard by their state senators in Frankfort.  Please call the toll-free Legislative Message Line at (800) 372-7181 and leave a kind but firm phone message for your state senator. (The receptionist will help you with who your senator is when you tell her your county). Leave this message: "Please, take a stand against any expansion of gambling."

For more information about the gambling expansion issue and explanation of why adding casino gambling is a bad move for Kentucky's moral culture and economy, please click here.  Sign up there for regular e-mail updates on this and other public affairs issues of concern to Kentuckians.

Moral Side of the News for November 27, 2011 - Stealing $1M for Gambling and the Penn State Football Scandal

Watch "60 Minutes" Segment on Predatory Gambling Sunday, January 9m 2011

The national news program “60 Minutes” just confirmed they will be broadcasting their segment about predatory gambling in America this Sunday night, January 9^th. It will have a special focus on electronic gambling machines. As you know, predatory gambling is a major issue that has received very little scrutiny by the national media up to this point. “60 Minutes” has boldly taken it on.  We are presently facing a big push by some of our elected officials to allow these electronic gambling machines in Kentucky.  The 2011 session of the Kentucky Legislature has just begun, but there is no doubt that bills will be presented to expand gambling in our state.

Please invite your associates, neighbors and friends to watch this informative “60 Minutes” segment.  Together, we can help inform our citizens about the most predatory business in America and help them to understand the social and economic problems that gambling causes.

You can help us in the fight to stop the expansion of gambling in Kentucky by sending a donation to the Kentucky League on Alcohol & Gambling Problems,

Thank you.

Donald Cole, Kentucky League on Alcohol & Gambling Problems, Kentucky Ethics League, Inc.

Moral Side of the News (June 21, 2009) 0Kentucky House Committee Approves Bill for Slot Machine Gambling at Race Tracks

The Kentucky House Budget Committee Thursday approved legislation that would allow slot machines for gambling at race tracks.  The vote was 19-9, and the bill now goes to the full House.  Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, the committee chairman, said the House probably will consider it Friday morning.  But it may be all for naught.

Sen. Charlie Borders, chairman of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee, said he expects the bill, if it clears the House, to come through his committee, where he said it has little chance of passage.  "I don't know whether it's going to pass the House but if it comes over here, we'll be ready and we'll handle it accordingly," Borders said in an interview.

He added that there seems to be little sentiment for passing the slots bill in the Senate and particularly in his committee. He said members don't like the fact that the House is tying more than $1 billion in funding for colleges and universities to slots in an effort to pass the legislation.  "That's not a good way to make public policy," he said. In fact, Borders said some members of his committee find the process in the House to be "distasteful."

We have discussed this issue on Moral Side, but it remains the top story in the state. What do you think at this point about the possibility of the bill’s passage? What about the move to tie funding for higher education to the bill? Have you heard anything during this debate that has swayed you one way or the other?

I have no way to predict the outcome of anything in the Kentucky legislature.  Tying the bill to funding higher education is dubious.  I recall that the selling point for the state lottery was also education.  Where is the funding from the lottery now?

Allowing slot machines for gambling at horse racing tracks is being sold as the salvation of the horse racing industry.  Let me get this straight, we save an industry by tying another activity to it. 

We need to be honest.  The desire is not to save horse racing.  The  desire is to save the gambling industry.

There is too much evidence of the harm that gambling does to individuals, families, and communities.  I oppose saving the gambling industry through the expansion of opportunites for persons to gamble.  It an industry cannot survive on its own, it should be allowed to fail.

"The Moral Side of the News" (May 24, 2009) - Expanded Gambling or the Horse Industry?

On a sun-kissed day that normally would have seen racing at Churchill Downs, the heads of six Kentucky racetracks and the largest thoroughbred horsemen's association gathered in the empty paddock yesterday, pleading for support for the state's signature industry. The fix, they say, is electronic slot machines, which are helping nearby states fatten purses and lure horses from Kentucky.

Earlier this month, Churchill dropped a day of racing each week because of that
horse shortage. The shortened weeks began yesterday. "For a $4 billion industry and 100,000 jobs on the line, the Kentucky legislature has got to step up and find a way to make this work for us and give us a chance to be competitive," Ellis Park owner Ron Geary said.

Louisville native Dale Romans, the third all-time leading trainer at Churchill
Downs, said that, without expanded gaming he would have to consider moving his
base elsewhere to keep the business of owners who want the larger purses of
neighboring states. "I don't think there is a Plan B (if Kentucky doesn't get slots). I don't think there can be," Romans said. "There is just nothing else to do."

The Family Foundation, a conservative anti-gambling group, says gambling
proponents are trying to do an end-run around the state constitution. “The people allow for a change in the constitution, not just Churchill Downs or one lawyer in the Attorney General’s Office,” said David Edmunds of The Family Foundation on recent efforts to bring slot machines to Kentucky without a voter-approved change in the constitution. “We like horses; we just don’t believe that gambling lobbyists should be allowed to use them to trample Kentucky’s constitution,” said Edmunds in response to today’s press conference held at Churchill Downs asking for slot machines to be passed in a special session this summer.

The case for expanded gambling in KY is now being framed as the only way to save the horse industry in KY. What are your thoughts? Are you willing to allow slots and other forms of gambling at state tracks in order to save the industry? Is this was allowed, do you think the “slippery slope” axiom would apply? Would it open the door to further expansion of gambling? What about the Family Foundation’s argument that any attempt to do this outside of a state-wide referendum is unconstitutional?

The identity and economy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is closely connected to the horse racing industry.  I certainly enjoy watching the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby - on television.  My service as a police chaplain, however, has introduced me to the less glamorous side of all that the Derby Festival and the Derby itself brings into our community.

It is not necessary to chronicle all of the negatives that gambling brings to a community.  The impact on individuals, families, and communities can be devastating.  Do we want to expand this influence into our community?

I for one, do not.  Maybe the horse racing industry will soon go the way of 8 track tapes and beta machines - relics of the past.

The cost of this stimulus to the horse racing industry is too high for persons, families and this community to allow the expansion of gambling.