Gambling news from http://www.kentucky.com/
As a host of Republicans and Democrats continue mulling whether to place their chips on the table and run for governor, one of their first big campaign tests looks to be their stance regarding expanded gambling in Kentucky.
Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo vaulted the issue into the headlines at an Aug. 5 Democratic breakfast in Graves County. He said he'd like to see the state approve casino gambling, and that he wants the first $100 million of revenue from it to wipe out the property tax on vehicles -- one of the most-loathed levies in Kentucky.
That idea has stirred up a buzz on both sides of the aisle as wannabe candidates weigh their options as well as their chances of beating Ernie Fletcher, the Republican incumbent next year.
"I'm wondering if that might change the debate," said Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who is considering a run for the Republican nomination for governor. "I don't remember anyone pushing any kind of tax cut. In the past, people just talked in terms of using the (casino revenue) money to pay for services."
Stumbo, at this point, has said he's running for attorney general again, not for governor. But by floating this proposal, he has added a new twist to the traditionally divisive topic that figures to play prominently in the governor's race.
"It could be an issue that one candidate or more tries to leverage and champion so to speak, much in the same way that Wallace Wilkinson did with the lottery," said state Rep. Tommy Thompson, a Democrat from Owensboro.
Wilkinson, a businessman and early underdog in the 1987 race, swept into office largely on the promise of pushing for a lottery to increase money for education.
The approval of casino gambling -- which has been kicked around in Kentucky political circles for years -- would require amending the state's constitution with the blessing of three-fifths of the General Assembly, and later by the majority of voters.
Recent proposals for expanded gaming haven't fared well in the legislature. A bill allowing Kentuckians to vote on whether to allow casinos cleared a House committee for the first time earlier this year before stalling out. That failed bid came despite an expensive ad campaign by a horsemen's group, the Kentucky Equine Education Committee, which wants casinos at the state's racetracks.
House Speaker Jody Richards said at the time that a gaming plan wouldn't move forward until a governor pushed for it.
Fletcher has consistently said he will go along with the will of people but won't actively push one way or the other. His spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker said that remains his stance.
So the political conditions could change dramatically with a governor who takes a strong stand for or against gambling, Thompson said.
"I think the candidates are going to have to do some more listening as they travel around to sense how interested people are," he said.
Silence and tiptoeing
Some of the Republicans who are entertaining thoughts of running against Fletcher have remained tight-lipped about their position on gaming.
Grayson said he was intrigued by Stumbo's pitch because he has been considering ways to eliminate the car tax, which brought in $101 million in revenue to the state last year.
"But gambling is still pretty controversial," Grayson added. "I don't really want to take a stand on his particular proposal yet."
Grayson, who hails from Northern Kentucky, said he will reveal his view of gaming if and when he officially decides to enter the race.
Likewise, Paducah businessman Billy Harper, who has filed papers to begin running for governor as a Republican, said he's not ready to announce his position.
That's not a surprise, considering that expanded gaming could be especially dicey for Republicans.
The highest concentrations of GOP voters in Kentucky are in Northern Kentucky -- where lawmakers say support is strongest for casinos -- and south-central Kentucky, which is well-known to be more anti-gambling.
"At least to this point, the opponents to casinos have seemed to have something of a stronger hand," said Michael Baranowski, associate professor of political science at Northern Kentucky University.
Baranowski said Fletcher, who has suffered from political turmoil swirling around his administration, might need to go for broke and pick a side in order to energize the pro- or anti-gambling supporters.
"Tiptoeing is almost beside the point for Gov. Fletcher. He might as well go out in a blaze of glory and take a stand at this point," Baranowski said. "But if he's still laboring under the delusion that he can win, maybe he will continue to tiptoe."
Needs and costs
On the Democratic side, Stumbo said he won't support a candidate who doesn't back expanded gaming.
"I think the Democratic nominee or the Republican nominee or anybody needs to take up that issue," he said. "We have so many needs in education, so many needs in social services. We can't fund our prosecutors."
Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson -- who is being talked about as a potential candidate for governor -- would support the approval of expanded gaming to stop the loss of gambling revenue to nearby states such as Indiana, said spokesman Chad Carlton.
Proponents of gambling say that approving casinos could bring Kentucky $1 billion, of which more than $350 million would flow into the government's coffers.
Opponents, however, say the related costs -- gambling addictions, bankruptcies and crime -- would be far greater in the long run.
John-Mark Hack, a Democrat and former state agriculture official who now serves as a spokesman for the Say No to Casinos group, said he expects "pro-gaming interests" to get behind certain candidates and wage expensive campaigns on their behalf.
He said those casino owners and developers would be the only winners.
"We have an opportunity in Kentucky to give some really thorough consideration to what kind of business and economic development environment we want to provide," he said. "Do we want an environment that exploits Kentucky or that empowers Kentucky?"
Former Democratic Gov. Brereton Jones, chairman of the horsemen group KEEP -- who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor but insists that he's looking to back someone else -- said the state needs hundreds of millions of dollars for education and health.
"There are no more important issues than educational issues," said Jones.
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