HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA Executive Newsletter

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICANO INDIANA INLAND CASINOSThe House sponsor of a bill to allow Indianariverboat casinos to move inland withdrew themeasure yesterday in the face of opposition, andthe legislation appeared doomed. The legislator,Bill Crawford, told newsmen, “As far as I’m concerned,it’s dead.” At the same time, the Houseapproved a measure that would ease some of thetax burden of racinos at HTA members HoosierPark and Indiana Downs, but not at casinos inthe state. Crawford’s bill would have allowedriverboats in industrial Gary, near Chicago, torelocate to heavily traveled interstate highways,and those in Hammond and East Chicago to relocateto anywhere in those two cities. Other riverboatswould have been able to locate on landnear their present docked locations under thedefeated measure. The bill easing the tax burdenfor the two track racinos passed narrowly on a49-47 vote before Crawford pulled the measureentirely. Then the House voted 57-42 against theidea, killing it, according to Indystar.com, for thissession of the legislature. One proponent, Rep.Charlie Brown of Gary, would not agree. Hesaid, “We have been very creative in conferencecommittees before, so who knows? The undertakerdoes not have that body yet.” An opponentof the idea if inland casinos, Rep. Mike Murphyof Indianapolis, thought otherwise. He said theproposal would have made gambling more prevalentin everyday life, and colorfully decoratedhis belief by saying, “Pretty soon we will haveslot machines in the nursing homes, and they’llwheel one up next to your bed and you’ll be ableto use your Medicaid match as your money.”RACING RESPONDS TO NJ GOVChris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, haswidened his anti-lobbying net to include all stateagencies, ordering them to stop hiring lobbyistsin an effort to halt buying access toTrenton politicians.Executive NewsletterA daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyondStanley F. Bergstein, EditorWednesday, February 24, 2010The net has very big holes, however, since it doesnothing to stop the flow of Atlantic City moneyto friends in the state capital, while punishingother state or quasi-state operations.As the governor signed a freeze on new lobbyingcontracts, New Jersey thoroughbred racingchallenged his authority over state tracks. MichaelCampbell, executive director of the ThoroughbredBreeders’ Association, said a MonmouthCounty superior court had ruled severalyears ago that funds received from betting areregulated but not public funds. When asked ifthe TBA would stop lobbying, Campbell said thebreeders would want to have “a full conversationwith the governor before deciding how wego forward.” The governor’s order will not affectcasinos, which can pour money into lobbyingas in the past as private businesses. Christienot only ordered an end to state lobbying, butimposed a $250 cap on state travel unless specificallyapproved by his office. A spokesman forthe Casino Reinvestment Development Authoritydenied using lobbyists, saying it was rarelydone, “and we tend to work with our local legislatorsdirectly.”CORDISH GOES ON OFFENSIVEThey don’t call David Cordish “the king of urbanmakeovers” for nothing, and he doesn’t take thetitle lightly. Challenged in his pursuit of a casinoat an Anne Arundel county mall by a petitiondrive, his giant Cordish Company now has suedthe Anne Arundel County Board of Elections, sayingit is overlooking “glaring and massive fraud”in considering a petition drive to send the propositionto a public vote in November. The drive,which needs 18,790 valid signatures by March8, now has had 13,136 validated by the electionsboard. An attorney for the board said it alreadyhad thrown out about half of the signatures submitted,and “we’re doing what we’re supposedto be doing.”