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Ky. House is back and looks to be about to consider historical horse racing bill. But it sounds like @reposborne says his members are demanding (!) that the state increase the tax rate on the machines: "I think everybody knows there needs to be some modification in the taxes"
Osborne says he came up with a workaround because they can't actually raises taxes on the machines (because SB 120 started in the Senate and tax bills start in House). He proposes a floor amendment to triple the tax on advanced deposit wagering (ADW) from 0.5% of handle to 1.5%.
that is, if I am following this correctly from remote feed. challenge to keep up.
. @MaryLouMarzian: We all know when you don't want to do something, you create a task force, and nothing happens. "It's really what you say you're going to do when you're not going to do it"
Marzian reading a letter from horse tracks such as @ChurchillDowns, in which they say they are open to raising taxes on HHR. "I think each one of us need to hold their feet to the fire" she says, but no sunset provision in this bill. no guarantee it happens.
Marzian says the term "HHR" is "hilarious" , "These are slot machines" she says. She slips in a mention of casinos and then says "I meant to say HHR, excuse me"
"Slot machines are not going to fix the troubles of Kentucky" Fugate says. He says these are not the conservative values that voters wanted when they sent 75 Rs to the 100-person House.
Rep. Richard Heath offering an amendment to SB 120. According to @jmnemes, the amendment would "expose trade secrets" of horse industry. (haven't seen the amendment but Heath says it's about "transparency")
Heath's amendment is defeated 49-34. Now back onto general debate on SB 120. Heath said it wouldn't be on the floor right now if it didn't have the votes to pass.
Another attempt to amend the HHR bill fails. This amendment ruled not within the rules by leadership because it would be contingent on a court decision
Now onto an amendment by J. DuPlessis, to raise tax rate on HHR from 1.5% to 3.5%. @reposborne rules it out of order b/c the bill started in the Senate. Will not be voted on.
"I don't think is about the jobs. I think it is about greed from a greedy industry and a greedy corporation." - Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington. ".. Their one passion is greed, to make more and more and more."
Hale: Over 60 lobbyists have been working this issue. "We have these individuals, very high paying people who are not doing this out of the goodness of their heart." Says horse industry has tried to send him campaign checks. "I didn't want their money, I don't need their money."
Hale: Horse industry wants a "bailout" from decision they made 10 years ago to operate illegal slot machines. "Here we are a decade down the road and they have come to us begging and pleading to please, help us out or our industry is going to go under."
Hale doesn't buy the notion that the racetracks were operating in "good faith" when they set up the gaming venues. "Give me a break," he says.
"It's expanding gambling that is destroying people's lives," Hale says.
Hale: Yes, Kentuckians will go to Indiana to gamble. "I wasn't sent here to legislate for Indiana. I was sent here to legislate for Kentucky."
Hale predicts "heartache and tragedy" and "a lot of suffering and pain" if HHR machines are legalized.
Now onto @RepBratcherKY, who counters Hale with: "I'll say, the coal industry has some pretty greedy characters too." But he's voted to keep coal jobs. "If we don't vote for this bill, you're gonna take jobs out of my district." Bratcher is in Fern Creek area of Louisville.
Rep. Shane Baker, R-Somerset, takes offense that the gaming venues continued to operate after September Supreme Court ruling. "They just want us to give a definition, to permit them to continue ... They could have found a fix, in my mind"
(actually, it's quite questionable whether historical horse racing machines could operate within the confines the Supreme Court laid out. which is probably why there is so much pressure to pass this bill)
Hate this, but my live tweeting might be interrupted for a bit on account of having a 5-year old and 2-year old who are strung out and heading toward that certain fate of bedtime.
I'm back, thanks to my MVP wife. (subject to change without notice).
An observation: There are apparently more than a few Republicans in the Ky. House who find @ChurchillDowns CEO's $10m pay offensive, who decry the "greed" of big corporations and who think taxes on businesses (at least this biz) ought to be raised.
While I was away, @jmnemes gave the closing legal argument as to why there is no constitutional problem with historical horse racing. "That dog won't hunt," he said.
. @repkoenig admits, in circumspect terms, that the bill contains language that absolves horse industry of liability for the billions that have already been bet in the machines (my understanding from following the line of questioning).
Rep. Dotson says "as a pastor" he sees the "underbelly of society" that the rest of these lawmakers don't see. This includes families who don't have dinner on the table cause parents gambled it away.
