House Speaker Ron Mariano dug his heels even deeper into the quicksand that is expanded slots gambling, insisting it’s really about getting extra money for hospitals, rather than a sweetheart deal for two local track owners.
Dedicating tax revenues from the proposed new “historical horse race” machines — which resemble slot machines in virtually every way possible — to the state’s Health Safety Net trust fund is little more than a fig leaf to cover a deal with the potential to actually cut into several existing revenue streams that the state and local communities depend on.
The state’s three existing casinos, which admittedly have a lot at stake on this issue, in a recent letter to lawmakers implored them not to go along with this scheme that they warned would mean the loss of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue and job losses. And they offered up a new economic impact study prepared by gaming consultants with the numbers to back up those warnings.
