{"id":17954,"date":"2016-03-18T13:06:24","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=17954"},"modified":"2016-03-18T13:06:24","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T21:06:24","slug":"tracks-questionable-in-kansas-safe-in-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/tracks-questionable-in-kansas-safe-in-west-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracks questionable in Kansas, safe in West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWouldn\u2019t we just be taking money from [Kansas Star Casino<\/strong>]\u00a0and moving it to Mr. Ruffin\u2019s pockets?\u201d So asked state Rep. Mark Kahrs<\/strong> (R) of a controversial bill to permit a \"ruffin\"Sedgwick County<\/strong> vote on whether to convert Phil Ruffin<\/strong>‘s Wichita Greyhound Park<\/strong> to a racino. It would also cut taxes on racinos<\/a> from a punitive 75% to 35.5%. \u00a0“Do you see any racetracks open in Kansas<\/strong>,” asked Ruffin emissary Scott Beeler<\/strong>. “It is silliness to suggest that somebody is going to invest millions of dollars in that kind of business today that cannot make money.\u201d A Greater Kansas Racing Alliance<\/strong> spokesman painted a picture of racinos bringing 4,400 jobs to the Sunflower State.<\/p>\n

Anti-dog-racing activist Christine Dorchak<\/strong> threw Beeler’s argument back in his face, saying, “it makes little sense to prop up an industry that is decline\u00a0everywhere.” Indeed, the bill has not been without its toxic aspects already, two House committee chairman having lost their gavels after pro-Ruffin forces attempted to compel a vote on the bill by the full House. We’re certain that Kansas Star owner Boyd Gaming<\/strong> is also watching events with keen interest.<\/p>\n

* Trying the same thing over and over again is considered the definition of insanity, in which case the New Hampshire<\/strong> state Senate has gone mad<\/a>. It’s introduced yet another bill to legalize one casino, despite a history of adversity when the issue is forwarded to the \"Maggie-Hassan-Headshot-HIGH-RES-Web\"House. With the clock running on Gov. Maggie Hassan<\/strong>‘s tenure, this is a do-or-die effort. Senators hope that adding keno<\/a>, which the House approves of, will make the difference this time. Hassan’s would-be successors are no great source of hope, not even longtime casino supporter state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro<\/strong> (R), who is pessimistic about the chances of legalization. Chris Sununu<\/strong> (R) is guardedly supportive, while state Rep. Frank Edelblut<\/strong> (R) only favors keno. The Democratic candidates are even less cause for hope, with Mark Connolly<\/strong> outright opposed to casinos and Colin Von Ostern<\/strong> saying\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not particularly excited about [it].\u201d So it looks like we’re in for more of the same thing as in past legislatures.<\/p>\n

* By contrast, gaming interests won two out of three in West Virginia<\/strong>, where gridlock doomed a couple of measures that would have cut into casino revenue. The only defeat was the Senate’s resounding rejection of the Racetrack Modernization Fund<\/strong>, which provides $9 million in state subsidies for West Virginia tracks to remain competitive. \"Armstead\"Procrastination by the House Finance Committee<\/strong> headed off the potential elimination of $20 million in state subsidies<\/a> to the dog-racing industry. Grey2K USA<\/strong>, which is opposing Phil Ruffin in Kansas, accused the greyhound industry of scare tactics (3,000 dogs euthanized) and hyperbole about job creation, which seems to have been enough to persuade the state Senate, which voted to end the subsidies. However, the bill now languishes under ‘study’ until the next Lege. Finally, a bill to enlarge slot routes in the state passed overwhelmingly in the Senate but was derailed by Speaker of the House Tim Armstead<\/strong> (R, above<\/em>). \u201cThat\u2019s the part that gets me the most. It was a no-brainer; the Lottery was on board. There was no reason not to do it, except for the speaker\u2019s evangelical outlook on social issues,\u201d complained slot-route advocate Michael Haid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

* “This place makes our casinos look like pubs.” That revelation, made at MGM Grand<\/strong> by an Australian casino bartender, is one of the revelations gleaned from 24 hours<\/a> spent in The Lobby Bar<\/strong> at the Green Monster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWouldn\u2019t we just be taking money from [Kansas Star Casino]\u00a0and moving it to Mr. Ruffin\u2019s pockets?\u201d So asked state Rep. Mark Kahrs (R) of a controversial bill to permit a Sedgwick County vote on whether to convert Phil Ruffin‘s Wichita … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[98,103,60,26,45,11,163,119,33,111,92,31,9,19,139],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17954"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17956,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17954\/revisions\/17956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}