The States: How to Raise Money Without Really Trying

Some church groups hold that gambling is sinful. Newspapers often rail against its iniquities: the Detroit News recently warned that legalized gambling can only create a great “assemblage of shills, touts, confidence men, fast-dollar operators and freebooters.” Politicians piously denounce gambling as a creator of corruptness. Yet for all that, legalized gambling is booming across the U.S., and for a simple reason: the revenue-hungry states have discovered that gambling, though it may be wicked, produces money that is as good as gold.

Last year was the biggest in the history of U.S. horse racing. More than 50 million people attended horse tracks, bet $3.6 billion on how the nags would finish, and thereby contributed some $288 million to the treasuries of the 24 states that get a cut of the pari-mutuel proceeds. This, plus dog racing in seven states, Florida’s jai alai and Nevada’s wide-open casinos, pushed the gambling revenues even higher.

The states, however, are not satisfied. At least a dozen of them propose to make more money this year by having the horses run more often. New York, which led the nation with its $109 million track income last year, has authorized six more days of thoroughbred racing and 55 more harness nights. That means that New Yorkers can watch a race on any day between Feb. 25, when the harness races started, to Dec. 7, when the thoroughbred season ends. Attendance at Yonkers Race way has averaged nearly 22,000 a night since Feb. 25, even though spectators sometimes had to build grandstand bonfires to keep warm. On a recent Saturday, 51,959 people bet $4,362,768 on the thoroughbreds at Aqueduct, contributed $500,000 toward balancing Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s beleaguered budget.

What About Humans? This year Illinois will consider a bill to provide year-round racing. Arizona’s greyhounds last year ran 342 nights. Maryland has passed a bill to increase its racing season by 36 days, expects to gain $2,000,000. New Hampshire lengthened its season by eight days; New Jersey is considering a 19-day extension; Ohio last year added 34 days.

There are increasing complaints that the horses are being run to death. Says James C. Brady, chairman of the New York Racing Association: “There could be a point of no return here. If racing is to be gouged just for state income, the sport could be killed.” Says a New York racing official: “If it’s money they want from pari-mutuels, why don’t they just run a bunch of mice around a track twelve months a year?” Even a few bettors gripe. Says one: “I don’t care what the longer season does to horses. What does it do to humans? They’re giving us too much opportunity to lose.”

Where longer seasons seem impractical, some states are trying to increase the share of their take on the existing races. Michigan this year increased the state tax on thoroughbred racing from 6½% to 8%, on harness racing from 4½% to 5%, expects to gain $2,300,000. Massachusetts is considering both a longer season and tax changes that could yield the state some $5,000,000 beyond last year’s take of $15 million. California expects to net nearly $42 million from racing this year, is considering a bill to take part of admissions and concession money as well. Pennsylvania and Vermont soon will set up their first pari-mutuel machines.

Plenty of Prostitutes. Other states are trying to decide whether to cut themselves into the easy money. In Texas, a group of business leaders has contributed $167,000 to promote racing, has the support of such colorful legislators as San Antonio’s Virgil Berry, who told a ministerial association that it need not fear that racing would lure prostitutes, since “we already got plenty of prostitutes to meet the demands.” A subcommittee of the Iowa legislature has favorably reported a racing bill. In Idaho, where at least five previous legislatures passed a pari-mutuel law only to see Governors veto it, the present legislature recently overrode Governor Robert Smylie’s veto. But Smylie contends that the law violates the state constitution, so far has refused to appoint a racing commission to get things going. Some states are eying the potentially huge take of another gambling gimmick: the lottery. Among them are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and California. Most legislatures reject the notion as somehow more evil than betting on horses and dogs. They perhaps forget that all 13 U.S. colonies held lotteries that supported George Washington’s Continental army, helped finance such educational institutions as Yale and Harvard.