US (DE/PA) - The new slots arms race
OUR VIEW, Wednesday, December 27, 2006, Delaware Coast Press
“Detroit-based casino developer Don H. Barden, who won the single license up for grabs in Pittsburgh, wiped away a tear after board members voted, one by one, to approve his project.”
- The News Journal, “Planned Phila. casinos get licenses,” Dec. 21
Could there be a more touching holiday scene? A Midwestern gambling entrepreneur, getting a government-protected regional monopoly on one of those flashy, neon-lit money magnets, a casino? And wiping away a tear, Ebenezer Scrooge-like, perhaps with a $20 bill he promptly throws away, knowing that with the only casino license around for miles in his hand, money is about to rain down on him like a monsoon?
Christmas came early for Don H. Barden. But will it be good tidings or troubles for Pennsylvania, and neighbor-in-gaming Delaware, as both states gear up for a casino tourism tug-of-war?
Hard to tell. At first glance, Delaware seems to knock down many anti-gambling advocates’ arguments against state laws that permit casinos — arguments that have been getting a workout Maryland in recent years, as a Republican governor and his Democratic opponents all toyed with the possibility of turning to gaming to boost the state budget.
Once allowed under the curtain in one spot, the gambling critics argue, slot machines and casinos will prove addictive to policymakers, and they will sprout up all over the state.
That hasn’t happened in Delaware, where Sussex County remains a healthy tourism destination even without a casino, and nearby Dover Downs hasn’t swollen to take over the whole region’s entertainment economy. And there’s no active effort to secure a casino license anywhere in Sussex.
But news stories about Pennsylvania’s decision to grant several new casino licenses last week reminded us of evidence that the slippery-slope arguments against gambling may hold water after all.
Almost a year ago, Delaware’s General Assembly passed laws adding more slot machines to the state’s three casinos, expanding their hours and permitting them to start handing out enticing coupons. The original laws allowing gambling here withheld those privileges for a reason; now, they are being handed out without much discussion.
Delaware’s legislators need to ask themselves: What won’t we do in the name of gaming receipts if Maryland follows Pennsylvania’s lead? If the answer is “nothing,” than we will have lost control of this economic engine, and will be less likely to predict what ill effects it might bring us.
Originally published Wednesday, December 27, 2006
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