Wow, you folks must have had phones on Capitol Hill ringing off the hook. Momentum is building to repeal the gambling-tax hike cosseted within the 2025 budget bill. For a while it looked as though Rep. Dina Titus (D) was going it alone. However, her cutely named FAIR BET Act is picking up support. In addition to cosponsors Rep. Troy Nehls (R) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D), it looks to have the backing of Reps. Mark Amodei (R), Jeff Van Drew (R) and Guy Reschenthaler (R).
That would be sufficient votes to flip the House of Representatives in favor of Titus’ bill IF (and a huge “if”) Rep. Hakeem Jefferies can hold the Democrats together. And if it makes it out of committee and if the Speaker of the House allows it to come to the floor for a vote. There’s a lot of “ifs” between now and tax relief for gamblers. Across the building, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) has introduced the FULL HOUSE Act, which would do the same thing as the Titus bill. But it would have to be passed as a unanimous-consent resolution.
“Any one senator can object to the bill’s passage, but we’re hopeful it could pass given the bipartisan support for fixing this issue,” said a rather wishful Cortez Masto staffer. After all, what are the odds that Sen. Mike Crapo (R), author of the abominable tax-code change, is going to roll over for the obliteration of his nasty little handiwork? Even Titus (above) is dissing it as “just for show.” One encouraging sign for us is that some GOP senators are acknowledging that they screwed the pooch vis-a-vis gamblers. It takes a big man to commit truth in politics and such a person is Sen. Thom Tillis (R). He confessed, “I was so focused on Medicaid, I wasn’t looking for other reasons to be against the bill. But that would be another one.“
Meanwhile, certain of Tillis’ colleagues fell back on dog-ate-my-homework excuses. The Crapo provision made headlines but that didn’t keep some senators from being out to lunch. “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not sure what it does,” admitted Sen. John Cornyn (R), sounding downright clueless. “If you’re asking me how it got in there, no, I don’t know,” added antedlivuian Sen. Chuck Grassley (R). Unlike Cornyn, Grassley is Senate President Pro Tem (and fourth in line to the White House), so he really has no alibi for whiffing on this one. Anyway, these lads will all have a chance to right a wrong when the Cortez Masto resolution comes up for a vote, hopefully soon.
One less weekend day put a dent in casino grosses in Maryland, which were 1.5% down in June. Big dog (and we mean BIG) MGM National Harbor did $67 million, off 1.5%. Maryland Live slipped 2.5% to $59 million, while Horseshoe Baltimore defied the odds by being flat at $14 million. Also flat ($4.5 million) was Rocky Gap Resort, so that’s a modest victory for Century Casinos. Ocean Downs was actually up 4%, achieving $8.5 million as Hollywood Perryville slumped 3.5% to $7 million. Incidentally, racinos in Ohio were up 2.5% last month but J.P. Morgan oddly isn’t reporting revenue from the four casinos and Deutsche Bank hasn’t reported anything, so we’ll have to give the Buckeye State a miss.
Casinos in Illinois seemed to shoot up 15% in June. But when viewed on a same-store basis, the increase was 2%. New competition took an 8% chunk out of Rivers Des Plaines, which “only” grossed $40 million. Newbie Wind Creek Southland muscled into second place with $17 million, as Hard Rock Rockford vaulted 100% to $12 million. Dowager Grand Victoria gained 3% to $12 million and Bally’s Casino did $10.5 million (2.5%) in downtown Chicago. The Temporary at American Place accelerated 12.5% to $10 million and Harrah’s Joliet made $10 million as well (-3.5%), whilst debutante Fairmount Park pulled in $1 million. Rounding out Chicagoland were two aged riverboats headed in opposite directions: Hollywood Joliet slumped 12% to $7 million but Hollywood Aurora climbed 5% to $8.5 million.
The prosperity was concentrated in Chicagoland. Par-A-Dice, down in Peoria, slipped 5.5% to $5 million, Harrah’s Metropolis was down 5% to $4.5 million and Golden Nugget Danville dipped 2% to $3 million. Rounding out the picture were Walker’s Bluff ($3 million, 11%), Bally’s Quad Cities ($5 million, flat), DraftKings Casino Queen ($7 million, -4.5%) and Argosy Alton ($3 million, 7%).
Visitors to gambling halls in the Show-Me State were feeling expansive. Missouri casino visitation was flat but spending was up 5%, lifting gambling grosses 4.5%. Caesars Entertainment must have rolled out some George promotions at Harrah’s North Kansas City, which leapt 22% to $15 million. It gobbled up business from everyone except Ameristar Kansas City ($16.5 million, 1%), whilst Bally’s Kansas City made $10.5 million (-5%) and Argosy Riverside did $13 million (-6.5%). Outstate, Century Caruthersville erupted 19% for $4.5 million but Century Cape Girardeau was becalmed at $6 million. Isle of Capri Boonville (another Caesars property) jumped 12% to $7 million, while St. Jo Frontier reported $4 million (-5%) and slots-only Mark Twain Casino was flat at $3 million.
That, of course, leaves St. Louis, where Horseshoe St. Louis catapulted 24.5% to $13.5 million. (What IS Caesars offering?) Hollywood St. Louis nudged up 2% to $21 million, as nearby Ameristar St. Charles was up a point to $25 million, best in the state. River City just barely spanked sister property Hollywood ($21.5 million, 2.5%).
Sen. Grassley is third in line, not fourth. Vice President Vance (shudder), Speaker of the House Johnson (shudder some more), then Grassley, who is starting to remind me of former President Biden in his mental acuity.
Thank you, Raymond. I appreciate the correction.
They basically have till the beginning of 2027 to fix it, so plenty of time. It will never get a unanimous vote in the senate. There will be holdouts for pork. The Fair Act is political theater. The repeal of the 10% tax will end up included in some larger bill in the near future. The Speaker of the House will allow a vote on it, but it will not be a priority, he knows it will go away The concern is how much damage to gamblers it will cause in the meantime. Revenues will go down during the uncertainty. Its pretty much like a tariff on gambling. I also hope they will set the W2G threshold to $3 or $4K instead of waiting for the IRS to change it. Any higher and there will be layoffs of slot personnel, which the casino’s would love. Paperwork and labor reductions.