Slot machines, taxes
Supporters and opponents of Initiative 892 are airing dueling ads on TV and radio.
One ad by the No on I-892 campaign is a 30-second TV commercial that says the state initiative would allow electronic slot machines in nontribal gambling establishments, such as bars, bowling alleys and bingo halls.
In the ad, a smug-looking man with slicked-back hair fails a lie detector test. The narrator says 892 is misleading.
“They say it’s a modest expansion of gambling, but it’s 18,000 new slots at thousands of neighborhood locations,” she says. “They claim you’ll get a big tax cut, but out-of-state gambling corporations take 65 percent for themselves. They send what’s left to Olympia.”
At the end of the test, the polygraph spells out “No on I-892.”
Just Treat Us the Same, tax foe Tim Eyman’s organization, has a radio piece set to begin running Monday that criticizes such ads. The radio piece says the tribal casinos are funding the “splashy media blitz” that’s “filled with lies.”
“892 simply allows existing businesses that already provide gambling to operate the same games the tribes offer. This doesn’t increase the number of gambling locations – it only allows those locations already licensed for gaming to compete.”
The ad says tribal casinos make hundreds of millions of dollars a year and pay no taxes. It says 892 “doesn’t cost the government a penny.”
Eyman’s stance Eyman says I-892 is about leveling the playing field. He argues I-892 would actually help solve gambling addiction problems because a portion of the revenues from the nontribal machines would go to treatment programs. “The state’s doing nothing to help these people (now),” he said. “If you’re a problem gambler, you’re going to drive anywhere any time to gamble.” | No on I-892’s stance “Eyman is using about the most optimistic figures he can come up with,” said Laura McClintock, spokeswoman for No on I-892. The small amount of savings taxpayers would receive isn’t worth having more slot machines closer to home, she said. The tribal casinos are owned by tribes, not individuals, so the money made on gambling is invested back into the tribal community. The tribes also give money to nontribal organizations and causes. “Eyman is trying to enrich private individuals,” McClintock said. “Taxpayers are last in line with this initiative. It is the gambling companies that benefit.” |
The bottom line Some tribes pay local jurisdictions for the increased need for law enforcement, roads and other services brought on by the casinos. If the tribes lose revenues, some of that funding – and certainly some money the tribes use to improve their schools and health care – could go away. Eyman’s ad says the tribes don’t pay taxes, which isn’t true. The tribes pay unemployment taxes, Medicare and Social Security on their workers, and the employees pay federal income tax. While Eyman says I-892 is about leveling the playing field, new, nontribal gaming companies that open if it passes wouldn’t be able to have the slot machines. | |
Ad watch is an analysis of campaign advertising that runs regularly during election season. Contact Megan Cooley at (509) 927-2165 or meganc@spokesman.com | For more information on the election, and to see selected campaign advertisements, visit the online election guide at: www.spokesmanreview.com/elections |