Horse Racing the Reason for Casinos in PA and Across the Country
PA HISTORY:
Two teachers, two pastors and a physician went to see then Senator Noah Wenger from Lancaster County to get his help in stopping an OTB at East Town Mall in East Lampeter Township that had voted AGAINST small games of chance even for charitable purposes.
He greeted us by looking at me in an accusatory way and saying, “I heard that you are running for my office!” I had no idea what he was talking about. (I guess it is very true that what a legislator wants more than to be elected is to be reelected.) in hindsight, I was very naive for years. Horse racing falls under the Dept. of Agriculture even though we don’t eat horse meat.
The fateful Fourth of July weekend when the slots legislation passed by adding hundreds of pages for the casino details to a thirty-three line bill for background checks for people who worked at the tracks. I got an anonymous call that said that horse racing was to be sunsetted that weekend if they didn’t act to extend it.
I naively immediately called the Chair of the Dept. of Agriculture, Noah Wenger, knowing that he would be able to stop the push for slots to “save a dying horse racing industry” as it was being sold as a great idea. Instead, to get the GOP votes needed to pass it, they were promised that there would be a provision for a property tax ‘’reduction’ passed first thing in the next session and they did.m
No, Noah Wenger did not stop this economic drain of slots and casino style gambling. (BTW, gambling does NOT create new wealth. It only recycles it. Some call it “Theft by Consent” or “Robbery with Permission.” Noah’s contribution over the weekend of that bill’s passage was asking to introduce an intern! Not one objection to the actual legislation!
Looking back with clearer vision, I believe that he wanted to protect the businesses such as the sales of race horses and the feed for them by those who helped get him elected. (Could the Amish who had their bishops at the hearing on this OTB at the Holiday Inn on 501 sell race horses???) We presented over a thousand letters of opposition to that OTB that day which were collected in less than a week.) I can only imagine the snickers as the less naive among the pushers watched as we persisted in trying to stop the inevitable harm that comes with gambling such as suicides, bankruptcies, divorces, loss of savings and retirement accounts, etc.
Now is the time to stop this economic drain in PA and the farce of its being a way to dupe gamblers into paying ‘voluntary’ taxes. REPEAL!!
As we all as know, gambling interests are very skilled at building dependence on their questionable enterprises. A three year shutdown process of any type of gambling in PA tied to the “saving of a dying horse racing industry” would help slow the impact on the workers as iwell as the other businesses tied to this harmful enterprise.
Remember that GOOD government should never deliberately dump UNnecessary harm on its citizens.
(FYI, I was one of the founding member of PAGE (Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion which should have been PALG but stealth HR interference prevented that stand) and I was the vice chair of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling for 9 years as well as international director of NCAGE.
