Tuesday, March 27, 2007

LD 890 would allow any nonprofit group that is already licensed for beano games to also operate five slot machines. The bill's proponents -- which include fraternal organizations such as the Elks and the American Legion -- say that racino gambling in Bangor at Hollywood Slots has cut traditional Bingo revenues by hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the only way to maintain their ability to raise money for charitable activities is by competing with Hollywood Slots. Five slot machines at a time.

Let's begin with the fundamentals: Few people really win at gambling. Gambling promoters win, and a couple of high-profile gamblers -- the ones you see on TV who win the Powerball, or high-stakes poker -- do. And there are the recreational gamblers, who go once a year to Foxwoods, or even once a week to a bingo game, for whom gambling is a harmless diversion. But the vast majority of people who bet, use one-armed bandits and buy lottery tickets gamble away their money and end the day with less in their pocket than they started with. Less money for food, for their children's needs, for their mortgage and credit-card payments.

Next: We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so. Anyone who said that slot machines and gambling would begin and end with a large- scale racino operation in Bangor (as well as a couple of other sites sprinkled throughout the state) was talking through their ... well ... through something other than the truthful side of their mouth. Or was massively naive. Of course this proposal is the next step in the fleecing of the Maine body politic. Once one big organization's doing it, why shouldn't everyone else? The argument being made by the nonprofits has a perverse logic to it: Hollywood Slots is hurting us, we're nice guys who do good things with our money, so let us compete with Hollywood Slots. We promise to use our money to send your kids to college on scholarship.

Next: The bill lacks meaningful regulation of nonprofit slot machines. In Bangor, all racino employees who work with machines or deal with money must go through a background check and be licensed. That wouldn't be the case with nonprofit employees who do the same work. Furthermore, the cash used in gambling is an invitation to shady dealings. So at Bangor's racino, several levels of oversight are required for the money that's taken in. That wouldn't happen with nonprofits. And finally, two state inspectors are assigned to Hollywood Slots to ensure that the law is being followed. Will the state send inspectors to every Elks Lodge to do the same? Of course not.

Finally, consider that nonprofits rarely pay property tax. So are we now to allow slot machine gambling to take place on tax-exempt property? Is that why these groups were given their tax exemptions?

Augusta Rep. Patsy Crockett, a Democrat, urged the Legislature's Committee on Legal and Veteran Affairs to approve the bill and a companion bill to allow tournament games such as Texas Hold 'Em to be sponsored by nonprofits. In her testimony, she appealed to lawmakers by yanking on their heartstrings, saying that the groups that want to raise money through slots have a "huge impact ... on the lives of our children, elderly, or people in need ... allowing clubs to have slot machines would give them another tool in the fund and 'friend' raising box."

Well, yes, but holding up banks is another way to raise funds. That doesn't make it a justifiable thing to do. Just because a cause is good doesn't mean a bad idea should be allowed to become reality. We hope state lawmakers exercise good sense and recognize that despite who's doing the asking, they should reject any and all attempts to expand gambling in Maine.