Three months after proposing keno electronic drawings in the state of Connecticut, Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell backed off the keno idea in the budget proposal she unveiled on August 26th, 2009. Jeffrey Beckham, a spokesperson Gov. Rell's budget office, said that when you do a budget, there are a lot of things to consider.
She said that some factors get included, some don't. Governor Rell was initially counting on electronic keno drawings-an electronic form of gaming played in the states of New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the two Indian gaming casinos in Connecticut-to raise a total of $20 million this fiscal year and $60 million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
There were also talks of borrowing on future keno earnings in 2011 to help pay the budget deficit. Earlier this summer, Gov. Rell called keno a "much needed revenue source for Connecticut. House Speaker Christopher Donovan (D-Meriden) said that it was Gov. Rell's idea and he was very surprised that it is not in her plan.
A spokesman for Gov. Rell, Adam Liegeot, said that it was decided that the money coming from keno was no longer necessary. Rell accepted an income tax increased by legislative Democrats on bigger earners to help solve the 2-year, $8.55 billion budget deficit. There were signs that Rell was backing away to the idea of keno. Earlier this week, Rell's budget office was unable to properly explain if keno would be available in social places like restaurants and bars which are now not lottery retailers.
Aside from that, last week, Paul Young, the head of Connecticut's Division of Special Revenue, which manages lottery and gaming venues, stated that he had not been informed to the details how the game would be implemented. There were also troubling issues with the state's two casino facilities-Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casino.
In early June 2009, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recommended that the General Assembly modified Connecticut's memorandums of understanding with the Mashantucket and Mohegan Indian tribes that run the casino facilities before legalizing keno gaming all over the state. Gov. Rell said that she always intended to make sure that they proceed in a way that honors their compact with the Connecticut Indian tribes.
Representative Cameron Staples (Democrat-New Haven), a co-chairman of the legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, stated that Democrats took the idea of keno and studying future keno earnings seriously. Staples said that the way securitization works is if a profit stream is going to pay the state $100 million annually and over the next ten years it would predictably give Connecticut $1 billion; they need the money now so they sell the profit stream to someone and they will pay the state $700 million.
Staples stated that the good thing about the game was it was new revenue. It was not taking existing revenue and getting it off line and reducing what they have been receiving into the general fund. But there was no unity among the House Democrat members. Senator Bob Duff (Democrat-Norwalk) has been reluctant to support his party's proposed income tax hikes but said that he did not think that electronic keno was an excellent idea. He said that gambling are just budget fillers and bad policy decisions.
The executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Marvin Steinberg, said that it was wise of Gov. Rell to change her mind about including keno in the state budget since it the game is very addictive. Steinberg said that tax increases are preferable to gaming revenues.
Although the game of keno could have resulted in improvement of business for some restaurants and bars, there was not a big outcry from that sector for it to be enforced. Nicole Griffin, the spokesperson for the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said that there was mixed reaction among their members about the game.
[06-09]
John M. Thorpe
