In special elections Tuesday to fill vacant seats in the 14th District in the Kentucky Senate and the 96th District in the state House of Representatives, voters sent a clear message to Gov. Steve Beshear, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, and the state horse racing industry led by the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP): Give up on efforts to allow video slot machines at Kentucky race tracks by simply enacting a law. It’s not going to happen.
Instead, they should concentrate their pro-gambling efforts by convincing legislators to place a constitutional amendment to allow slot machines at race tracks on the 2010 ballot.
Even if Democrats had won both the seats up for grabs Tuesday, the odds of the 2010 General Assembly approving a bill to allow slot machines at tracks were long. With Republicans retaining a Senate seat by electing Jimmy Higdon to replace Dan Kelly in the 14th District and the GOP picking up a House seat with voters in Carter and Lewis counties, those chances are nil.
Beshear, Stumbo and KEEP have made it clear that they oppose placing the issue of slot machines on the ballot. Beshear and Stumbo both insist Kentucky voters approved slot machines at race tracks when the approved the amendment establishing the Kentucky Lottery more than 20 years ago, and they point to two Kentucky attorney general opinions that say a state law is all that is necessary to place slot machines at tracks. However, one of those opinions was written by Stumbo when he was attorney general and the other was written by current Attorney General Jack Conway, whose family has close ties to the racing industry. In addition, there are two other attorney general opinions that say a vote of the people is required to expand gambling.
KEEP insists that if Kentucky tracks have to wait until 2011 to add slot machines, some may not survive. Simply put, race tracks in other states that already offer slot machines and other forms of expanded gambling have put Kentucky tracks at a competitive disadvantage by being able to use the gambling revenue to offer larger purses than Kentucky tracks can. That means the best horses are going to other tracks, and it is getting increasingly difficult for Kentucky tracks to attract enough quality horses to offer a full range of races.
However, there is no guarantee that Kentucky tracks will be able to install slot machines sooner by enacting a state law than they would by having voters approve expanded gambling at tracks. In the unlikely event that the 2010 General Assembly would approve a law to allow slot machines at tracks without a vote, the law is certain to be tested in court, a process that could take many months. What if Kentucky courts would declare that slot machines at tracks requires voter approval just as the Ohio Supreme Court did earlier this year? Such a ruling would delay slot machines at tracks for at least two years.
Steve Beshear ran on a platform to allow expanded gambling in the state, and he initially supported a constitutional amendment. However, to date, his efforts have been thwarted by the Republican-controlled Senate. The election of Higdon assures that the GOP will remain in firm control of the Senate.
Senate President David Williams and other Senate Republicans are not going to support an expansion of gambling through a law. However, Williams has indicated that he may support placing the issue on the 2010 ballot.
A solid majority of Kentuckians say that think the issue of expanded gambling should be placed on the ballot. By the same token, most Kentuckians — including us — are opposed to expanding gambling without voter approval.
There comes a time when all politicians must accept what they can get instead of what they want. Forget about trying to expand gambling through a state law. Put the issue on the ballot.
