Published: June 19, 2009 03:08 pm      

RONNIE ELLIS: Gambling debate took some unusual twists

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes — and ships — and of cabbages and kings – and why the sea is boiling hot — and whether pigs have wings.” (From Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll)

It’s kind of like that around the capitol these days. Surreal. But while vote counts varied all week, by Friday the House leaders had rounded up 52 to pass legislation allowing expanded gambling at horse tracks. It still faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, although Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said its fate is certain death.

Lawmakers were called to Frankfort because of a $1 billion budget shortfall. Now, they’re talking about a $1.3 billion school construction “stimulus” package. Of course, what Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, is stimulating is votes for slots at the horse tracks. Some are shocked that budget treats are directly tied to lawmakers’ votes on the slots bill. But it’s not as though Stumbo is doing anything which hasn’t been done before.

“It’s as old as the process itself,” said Rep. Tim Firkins, D-Louisville, whose district borders Churchill Downs but who said Thursday he hadn’t decided how to vote on the bill. “It’s been done before and it’ll be done again.”

It has and it will.

Then there are the arguments and speeches for and against expanded gambling. Prospective receipts and benefits grow daily. The dire consequences grow more horrific with each statement from the Family Foundation or Williams. One side says the state’s “signature industry” is on the precipice of collapse. The other side quotes data saying the number of foals in Kentucky has increased and profits are up for Churchill Downs.

The floor debate Friday was no different. Proponents termed the legislation a sure fire way to save the horse industry and create the largest school construction program ever. They downplayed the potential of social problems feared by opponents. Those against the bill predicted a rise in social ills and that gambling interests would be back for more in future sessions. But all on both sides went out of their way to praise the horse industry and to concede the industry faces problems.

Stumbo says the slots revenue will pay debt service on as many as 160 public schools plus a few university buildings. He said it’s a rare opportunity to do something major for kids and their education. But he won’t say that if the slots legislation passes and creates enough money for all the schools that they’ll be built in districts of lawmakers who can’t vote for the bill.

House members from conservative districts with aging schools faced a dilemma: should they vote for a new school but risk an angry reaction at the polls next year from constituents opposed to gambling when they think the bill has no chance to pass the Senate anyway? Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, had the most creative rationale for his vote – he voted for it because he didn’t want it in his communities and he said this bill will restrict it to the tracks where people already gamble.

What was a poor lawmaker trying to do the right thing for his district and state supposed to do? Well, 52 House members voted for slots at the tracks and 45 against with three abstentions. Some of them on both sides must have felt a bit like Alice in the looking glass world.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.