Props. 68, 70 Seek to Expand Gambling Interests in California
by James L. Lambert
August 24, 2004
(AgapePress) - An analyst with Focus on the Family is hopeful voters in the Golden State will turn away two ballot initiatives in November that would allow the number of slot machines to mushroom in the state. The cost to families and society, he says, is not worth the risk.Proposition 68 is one of two gambling-related initiatives on the ballot for California voters this November. Associated Press says, if passed, the initiative "gives Indian tribes with casinos an ultimatum: either pay 25 percent of their gambling revenues to the state, or eleven California card clubs and five racetracks will be allowed to add slot machines."
Proposition 68 is an apparent effort by gambling interests other than the Indian tribes to end the tribal monopoly on slot machines. It also appears that if this proposition is passed, more gambling sites and machines will flood the state. If voters approve Proposition 68, non-tribal gambling interests will expand gaming from the casinos into the suburbs, adding more than 30,000 slot machines in the state.
Numerous police associations have voiced strong opposition to Prop. 68; so have the tribal gambling interests. California tribes want to preserve their monopoly on slot machines. In the recent past, tribes have tremendously expanded their operations. Earlier this year, a handful of larger Indian gambling operations entered into an agreement with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to increase their taxes to California; in return, they were allowed to install more slot machines.
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Chad Hills |
Proposition 70 is "even more dangerous" than Prop. 68, according to Chad Hills, an analyst for gambling research in the Public Policy Department at Focus on the Family. He is concerned about Prop. 70 because it lifts the limits Indian casinos currently have in place on the number of slot machines they are allowed. He contends that more slots -- a major moneymaker for the tribes -- mean another round of expansion for the tribal casinos. Hills says that at least 70 percent of the gross revenue from the casinos derives from slot machines.Counting the Cost
While the public is often are barraged with political rhetoric from the gambling industry, it rarely hears about the social impact of gambling on neighborhoods. According to Hills, "state officials don't consider the social costs that their citizens experience." Putting that cost in understandable terms, the analyst estimates that "you could fill San Diego Qualcomm Stadium 24 times with the pathological and problem gamblers in the state."
Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson has long been opposed to legalized gambling. He says "gambling is driven by and subsists on greed .... Gambling is an activity which exploit's the vulnerable -- the young, the old, and those susceptible to addictive behaviors. Further, gambling entices the financially disadvantaged classes with the unrealistic hope of escape from poverty through instant riches."
Those critical of the industry, like Dobson and Hills, cite relevant statistics that demonstrate the dark side of the industry. Following are some of the more notable research items:
- Crime rates in casino communities are 84 percent higher than the national average. (U.S. News & World Report, January 15, 1996)
- The state of Wisconsin, which boasts casinos operated by several Indian tribes, experiences an average of 5,300 additional major crimes and 17,100 additional arrests for less serious crimes due to the presence of casinos in the state. (Reported by University of Nevada-Las Vegas researchers in Wisconsin Policy Research Report, November 1996)
- The total number of crimes within a 30-mile radius of Atlantic City, New Jersey, increased by 107 percent in the nine years following the introduction of casinos in that city. (Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency)
- The National Gaming Impact Study (June 1999) concluded there are 15-20 million problem and pathological gamblers in America (approximately 5-6 percent of the population). NGIS was a federal commission (1997-1999) that studied the gambling industry during the Clinton administration.
With close to 61 percent of the church population seeing gambling as "morally acceptable" (Barna Research Group, December 2003), advocates such as Hills believe it is time that the public is educated about the downsides of the business of gambling. Recent polls show that only 30 percent of voting Californians agree with Proposition 68. With 22 percent of the public undecided, Hills and others like him hope that both propositions will fail. "Gambling is like cancer," he laments. "It keeps on metastasizing."
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent.
