Let voters decide on Ky. casinos

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear wants 12 casinos in his state that he says will generate $600 million in taxes a year to help pay for education and other key services. This is a game of chance, but it's one the voters of Kentucky should get to decide.

For Kentucky casinos to become a reality, Beshear's proposal must first be passed in the General Assembly, which is expected to take up the measure almost immediately. If it passes there, a constitutional amendment will be placed on the state ballot this fall, allowing Kentuckians to decide if they want casinos. The proposal calls for seven casinos at the state's horse tracks, including Northern Kentucky's Turfway. The other five would be free-standing gambling palaces in various regions of the state, including one in Campbell or Kenton counties. Just where the free-standing casinos would go would require voter approval in the host communities.

Areas of concern

There are those who oppose the idea of casinos - on moral, social or financial grounds. For some the very nature of gambling - trying to hit it rich with little or no effort - is offensive. Too often, they say, it is people who can least afford it who put their money down in casinos. The nature of gambling is that the house, or in this case the state, will only be a winner if there are large numbers of losers.

Others worry that casino gambling brings with it a menu of social problems, from gambling addictions to organized crime. They can cite plenty of examples of people who have literally lost the rent or driven themselves to bankruptcy because they could not control their gambling habits.

Saving racing

Finally there are those who question the notion of the state itself becoming dependent on gambling taxes. Casinos generate a lot of money, but it is not an unending supply, and even Beshear's most optimistic projections will not meet all of Kentucky's financial needs.

But it is difficult to argue against gambling in a state where horse racing has such a proud tradition. Indeed, the reason given for putting seven of the casinos at horse tracks is to preserve Kentucky's horse racing legacy. The tracks have argued for years that they lose business to casinos in nearby states and that lower revenues mean smaller purses, which lead top horses to head for greener races in other states.

Saturation point?

Another major concern with Beshear's plan deals specifically with Northern Kentucky. The plan calls for one casino at Turfway and another free-standing operation in Campbell or Kenton counties. The casino advocates estimate the Turfway casino would generate $90 million a year in taxes and the second, larger, casino would bring in another $160.3 million a year. But as Alexander Coolidge's story on the front of this section notes, some question those figures. Greater Cincinnati already has three casinos in Southeast Indiana. Will adding two more oversaturate the market?

Beshear says he wants all of the money Kentuckians now gamble away in neighboring states to stay in Kentucky, and that building casinos in Kentucky will keep that money at home, as well as drawing bettors in from Ohio and other neighboring states.

Will it?

Put it to a vote

Will Kentucky gamblers go to Turfway rather than Lawrenceburg, Rising Sun or Switzerland County out of a sense of state pride? Will Kentucky casinos be able to attract out-of-state gamblers away from existing casinos? Maybe, but it is anything but a sure bet. The attraction of gambling, however, is chance, not certainty.

Kentucky's history with horse racing shows the state is willing to study the odds. For that reason the General Assembly should move Beshear's proposal to the ballot and let the voters decide if casinos are a good bet.