ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240029
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
THE FABLED reputation of Virginia's lottery is that it is a well-run, efficient money-making operation. Thus, postulates Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk, if the state's Lottery Board takes charge of running riverboat casinos, Virginians will have nothing to fear and much to gain - and the General Assembly can plug a $67 million hole in the state budget without (drum roll, please) a tax increase.
Give us a break.
If the Lottery Board is that good, maybe the rest of state government should shut down, leaving the folks who run the numbers game to take charge of everything. (Keep in mind, the Mafia at one time also had a reputation as a well-run, efficient money-making operation.)
As for the $67 million budget hole - the result of the governor's withdrawal of support for lottery-run powerball and keno sucker schemes - the legislature has dealt with much larger revenue shortfalls without a tax increase. And even in the unlikely event that it can't do so this year, there are worse things than tax increases.
For one: the sleaze factor, if not increased crime and corruption, that casinos would bring to Virginia. Make no mistake: The gambling industry won't be content with a handful of floating casinos in Tidewater. If lawmakers let this efficient industry put its toe in the water, casinos soon will be spawning on dry land.
Not to mention the erosion of intangible Virginia values - the notion, for example, that you get things by earning them, by working, not by get-rich schemes. If taxophobia has supplanted all such corny values, the Lottery Board, for fun and profit, might as well expand its game-running to include prostitution and drug rings.
Speaking of fun, what fun to watch the gambling industry and its supporters scrambling to sell casinos to Virginia. A few years ago, these were said to be the hot tickets to economic prosperity, and Virginia risked being the only state that would miss out on the action.
Of late, the fervor for gambling has cooled in many states, as the public and politicians have recognized the dangers of overdependence on gambling income to pay for public services. Of 10 statewide referendums to expand gambling in 1994, six were defeated; last year, casinos interests lost in seven states and won in none.
Moreover, concerns about crime and other social ills associated with gambling have dozens of national leaders, including President Clinton, backing a comprehensive study of the industry's impact. At the very least, Virginia should wait for that study's findings before it gets on board with riverboat casinos.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB