Leveling the playing field with the tribes: Electronic Gaming for House-Banked Card rooms.

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One of the many reasons to oppose the organized criminal enterprise of the megacasino up in La Center is that they don't have to play with the same rules that non-rtribal business has to play with.

They don't have to pay the same taxes, state minimum wage... L&I, B&O taxes or most of the others that private business has to play... leaving hundreds of millions offr the table like, say, for example, the Mohegans have to pay in Connecticut, a paltry $400 million a year going into the general fund for that state.

I'm listing a couple of bills below that can make a difference and help to make up for at least some of the revenue shortfall: the Electronic Gaming for House-Banked Card Room Bill(s)

Please look this over and contact your representaitves/Senator to get these bills moving.  It's not too late and we can make this happen.

Two identical bills have been introduced in the State Legislature: House Bill 2044 and Senate Bill 5918.  Briefly, here is what these bills do:

·        Allows the same machines that tribes offer in non-tribal house banked card rooms

·        Limits them to existing house-banked card rooms. 200 machines per location. 7,875 machines total. Future venues must have been in operation 5 years.

·        State takes 35% of net win, returns 65% to card rooms as agent compensation.

·        State shares 5% with local governments, distributes the remainder to Education, Human Services, Public Safety. 0.5% goes to problem gambling programs.

To keep one or both of these bills moving through the legislature, your help is needed!

•   Contact your legislators. Click on the link to find your legislators, and send them an e-mail. The site tells you how.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx

•   Call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and follow the instructions.

The MESSAGE to Legislators is simple:

“Please support House Bill 2044 and Senate Bill 5918 .Electronic gaming in house-banked card rooms will bring $190milion a year or more to state and local treasuries. It saves and creates jobs. It helps sustain local programs and services.  It’s the fair thing to do by ending the tribal monopoly on electronic gaming.”

• Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or comment on a blog. Letters should be done by e-mail. Just follow the simple instructions for submittal provided by each publication.


Keep the letters short. Keep them direct with these key points in your own words:

• It’s about revenues for needed state and local services. Electronic gaming in house-banked card rooms can bring $190 million a year or more to state and local treasuries.

• It’s about jobs and local economies. Card rooms have provided nearly 10,000 well-paying jobs—about the same number as the Boeing Plant in Renton. Our taxes help fund critical local programs and services, and our businesses have proven themselves to be valued community partners.

• It’s about fairness and equity. The tribes pay no taxes on their more than $1.7 billion annual gaming revenue. We do. Yet we’re not allowed to offer our patrons the games they want. It’s time to end the tribal monopoly on gaming.

• These bills deserve a fair hearing and serious consideration. The numbers are real, and, unlike some budget proposals, they are sustainable. This proposal limits the footprint of non-tribal electronic gaming, and limits the number of machines. A recent poll shows that voters support this approach by more than 62%.