FINAL 2015 GAMBLING LEGISLATION SCORECARD
The legislature adjourned at 12:00 noon today, and this is the result:
- SB-240: Tax loophole to reduce tax owed to state by $12,500 for every live race. Died in Senate Finance Committee. WIN!!!
- HB-200: House version of SB-240. Never made it out of its first committee assignment, House Ways and Means Committee. WIN!!!
- SB-355 PURCHASE LOTTERY TICKETS WITH PLASTIC. Part of the master plan for the lottery to expand to buy tickets with plastic at the gas pump, then to all ATM machines, then to mobile devices. Smart business tactic for toxic product. Institutionalized unfairness, inequality and dishonesty. Bill passed the Senate, the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee, but stalled in House Ways and Means Committee the last day of the session. WIN!!!
- SB-706: Also another tax loophole for the tracks by recalculating “net take” of track casinos. Would allow gift of free food, lodging, services, etc to be deducted from net win, the amount taxes are based on. The original bill would have allowed tracks to make loans to gamblers over $10,000. Passed two senate committees and went to the Senate Floor, but Senate Judiciary pulled it off the floor and into their committee because of appropriations considerations. It died there. WIN!!!
- SJR-19 TRIBAL GAMBLING COMPACTS: They extend hours of operation from 20 to 24 per day. They allow the casinos to loan money to gamblers (markers) over $10,000. They relieve the casinos of legal liability if they get someone drunk and they injure or kill someone. They allow five new casinos over six years. They passed both the Senate and the House by wide margins. Legislators were mostly alarmed about the possibility of loosing gambling revenue if the compacts weren’t renewed, and afraid of the conflict with the tribes if they weren’t renewed. The governor will sign them, since her representative negotiated them. The BIA will approve them, because they are in a habit of giving the tribal gambling interests almost everything they want. LOSS!!!
The big win was the lottery, and the big loss was the compacts. Legislators mentioned in committee hearings that they got lots of phone calls and emails against these bills. The negative calls on these bills had a major impact in slowing these bills down. We had representatives at nearly every committee hearing on all of these bills. I think they knew that we were watching, taking names, and making their road pretty bumpy.
GOOD WORK, EVERYONE!!
Please read this post by Pastor Dewey, just click on the headline below:
