Kearney gets day in King James’s court

Bill Kearney, the reformed compulsive gambler who has advocated tirelessly for requiring casinos to send monthly activity statements to customers, reports that his proposal has taken another step forward.  Rep. Harold James, chair of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, has called a hearing for July 30 on Kearney’s proposal, House Bill 783.  In case you’ll be around Harrisburg that day, the hearing is scheduled to start at 9:30 in the Irvis Office Building, Room G-50.

 

“This has been the only legislation drafted since our gaming bill passed in 2004 that addresses the compulsive casino gambling problem before one becomes addicted,” Kearney says.  I guess that means all the other commonsense proposals we’ve advocated, such as loss limits or closing casinos overnight, haven’t even been introduced as legislation.  So for now you can just focus your energies on calling your House member and encouraging him to help get HB 783 moved out of committee and through the House.

 

Casinos on the ropes: #1

 

The Philly casinos are still on the ropes.  A group of state legislators has agreed to push Governor Rendell to discuss re-siting the two casinos.  Mayor Nutter is continuing to talk about all the things the city can do to slow down the casinos’ progress and keep them from occupying waterfront sites near residential neighborhoods.  Some sources tell me they expect the city to cave in eventually, but all delays are cause for celebration.

 

Casinos on the ropes: #2

 

For some reason people thought a man who gambled away $11 million could be trusted to handle $750 million.  Instead what we got from Don Barden was a series of requests for permission to renege on commitments, followed by a walkout by the construction crew, followed by a surrender to the deep pockets of Chicago financier Neil Bluhm.

 

Particularly interesting in this mess is the role Gaming Control Board member Jeff Coy and state legislator Dwight Evans played in private conversations regarding the Barden-Bluhm deal.  It’s been suggested that opponents should file suit and try to block the deal based on the fact that these “ex parte” conversations violated the law.  (We don’t have the money, but No Dice was a financially non-contributing coplaintiff in the original suit against the slot machine law, so if you know a lawyer who might be interested in pursuing this case pro bono for its publicity value, please tell us.)  Apparently Evans’s interest is in ensuring that the state’s casino boondoggle still can boast one minority casino owner, even if he has now been reduced to largely figurehead status.

 

Casino that should be on the ropes: #3

 

Another fine group of fellows tried unsuccessfully to get the Gaming Control Board to fast-track their slots license request before the background checks were completed.  Makes you wonder what they want to hide, doesn’t it.  Supposedly this group, known as Centaur and seeking a slots license to go with its racetrack-to-be in Lawrence County, needed immediate action before its financing fell apart.  But according to opponents of the applicant, the group has other reasons to avoid careful scrutiny of its background.  A handout distributed by opponents at the Gaming Control Board’s last meeting indicated the following about Centaur:

 

In 2000, as Centaur sought to increase its interest in Indiana’s Hoosier Park racetrack by 26 percent, the company was embarrassed by the revelation that it had given lucrative stock options to two influential lobbyists, including a former speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives.  Centaur had failed to disclose these connections in its bid.  After these discoveries, the Indiana Horse Racing Commission rejected Centaur’s bid unanimously.

 

Stephen Hilbert, a financial backer of Centaur, used to be an executive at Conseco, which obtained an $80 million judgment against him after he was accused of making false and misleading statements to inflate company stock values.

 

Another Centaur team member, John Menard, who controls a chain of home improvement stores, was forced to pay $1.7 million in penalties for violating state hazardous waste laws in Wisconsin.  In addition, according to U.S. Tax Court records, Menard cheated the IRS out of $9.4 million by overpaying himself and through improper reporting.

 

Yet another member of Centaur’s team, James Adams, has also engaged in criminal activity.  While with Conseco, Adams ordered staffers to falsify records in order to show that the company had earned $368 million more than was actually the case.  Adams was barred by the SEC from all audits of public companies for five years and was forced to pay a $90,000 civil penalty.

 

Why does the casino industry keep attracting people of such questionable ethics?  Maybe it’s because honest people don’t want enter an industry that garners much of its profits by inflicting suffering on addicted gamblers and their loved ones.

 

Other news

 

A good, comprehensive update on the Philly casino saga:  http://www.southphillyreview.com/view_article.php?id=7229

 

West Virginia, which has become one of the nation’s biggest gambling states (second after Nevada in percentage of state revenue that comes from gambling), has experienced a sharp rise in suicides among young adults and can’t figure out why:  http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200807151128

 

UNLV gambling expert Bill Thompson’s summary of gambling in Switzerland shows that other countries long ago recognized the dangers of unchecked gambling proliferation and introduced safeguards.  Interestingly, the Swiss constitution had to be amended to limit the spread of slot machines to casinos only.  See http://www.igwb.com/Articles/Market_Outlook/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000376879 for more details.

 

The No Dice web site (nodicepa.org) was updated this past week with additional recent news articles.  Check it out and send any suggestions.  I hope to add more background information and links later this summer.