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PBN FILE PHOTO / STEPHANIE EWENS
GOV. DONALD L. CARCIERI has put in jeopardy plans to have 24-hour gambling at Twin River with his veto of legislation that would have dramatically increased the number of days of dog racing at the facility in addition to the VLT gambling.
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PROVIDENCE — Gov. Donald L. Carcieri vetoed legislation passed earlier this week by the General Assembly that would allow Twin River to remain open round the clock but also would require the facility to nearly double the days that greyhound racing takes place.
In the veto letter he sent to Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Carcieri stressed that enactment of the legislation (S 0286B) would put in jeopardy the consensual bankruptcy agreement that Twin River owner UTGR had entered into on June 23, which in turn could force the state to pay “millions of dollars in expenses to protect the state’s interest in what no doubt will be a protracted bankruptcy proceeding.”
In addition, he said, “the state has been advised that there could be a decrease of 10 percent or more in revenue to the state from the facility if a free-fall bankruptcy were to occur. That is a risk the state cannot afford to take.”
The legislation increases the minimum days that dog racing takes place at Twin River from the current 120 days to 200 days, although the state maintains that the activity is a drain on Twin River, both because it operates at a loss, but also because Twin River pays a yearly $9 million fee to the Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association.
The group has been waging an intense public relations war, contending that without state-mandated racing at Twin River, 225 jobs would be lost. The governor disputed that figure in his letter, saying that there are “fewer than half that number of individuals currently licensed and authorized to work at Twin River in positions related to dog racing.” He also contended that the $9 million fee paid to the dog owners largely benefits out-of-state kennel and dog owners, not Rhode Islanders, and is one of the reasons that Twin River was forced into bankruptcy.
Round-the-clock video lottery terminal (VLT) gambling was considered a key to Twin River’s emergence from bankruptcy as a going concern, something that the state has a vested interest in, given the roughly $250 million that its VLTs return to state coffers each year.
What an scam,RI needs to impeach this guy.He's in bed with the casino people,the 9 million dollars is probably his fee.9-10 million dollars is nothing to these people.They don't care about 225 jobs.Last time I looked this is the USA.Is RI truly an island?What kind job loss paradox will this cause.He doesn't want to pay dog owners out of state like Colorado,Kansas,Texas,Oklahoma and Colorado but it's ok to pay these states for grain,gasoline, natural gas and beef ,which I haul this area.His fuel tax is gonna make your steaks go up.People pay big money these dogs,$5k to $50k.What kind of person could own these?I bet someone that owns other businesses, property and can afford to move to other states that aren't raising taxes ,like here in the midwest.Funny how related we all are,a greyhound racing in RI affects an lowly truck driver from Kansas, some of the dogs are raised in Kansas race at twin rivers.One of the owners own a meat company in Kansas,another is the largest lamb producer in Colorado.Now check out your Ri dog owners,I bet you'll be surprised.Maybe this is what they call real economics.Only 225 jobs you say,hmm.