Bills Approved By The State For Slot And
Poker Games "We're meeting with the governor's office," said Hazel Park City Manager Edward Klobucher. "The governor has given indications she could look favorably at the issue. But (Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm) doesn't want Michigan to become a gaming state."
Klobucher said three of four bills approved by the state House last May to allow video terminals at the race tracks for slot and poker games allow host communities like Hazel Park to get one-half percent of profits from expanded gaming.
Klobucher wants that profit percentage to be 2 percent without a $1 million cap as required in the House of Representatives' version. Two percent is what communities with Indian casinos get, Klobucher said.
Klobucher believes 2 percent of the expanded gaming profits would generate more than $1 million for the city. The 123 acres of Hazel Park Harness Raceway at 10 Mile and Dequindre comprises nearly 10 percent of the city. Money from expanded gaming is needed to help service the area, Klobucher said.
"We've had legalized gambling in Hazel Park for over 50 years," Klobucher said. "There's no moral issue here. The track will continue to exist as a gaming facility regardless. We'll have gaming in Hazel Park.
"The question is whether the state is going to make it worthwhile to residents of Hazel Park at an equal level of other communities with casinos."
Klobucher has visited Lansing several times over the past year giving input and lobbying House and Senate committees involved in the expanded gaming issue.
The race track expanded gaming issue remains in the Senate's Gaming and Casino Oversight Committee, chaired by State Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City.
Hazel Park Harness Raceway is in Jacobs' district and previously was in Johnson's district.
"I'm in favor of it," said Jacobs of the race track expanded gaming. "We will try to do a little tweaking. Hopefully it will go through."
Jacobs said Detroit legislators will fight race track gaming expansion to protect casino interests. Others will oppose it on moral grounds.
Proponents of expanded race track gaming must argue about the good it will do for communities like Hazel Park, the money it will bring to the state in these tough financial times, and the jobs race tracks help provide in the state's agricultural industry, Jacobs said.
Johnson said the Senate Gaming and Casino Oversight Committee could send a bill to a Senate vote by the end of the month. If approved, Johnson predicts the issue will go a conference committee because of expected differences between House and Senate versions.
A conference committee composed of persons from both assemblies would resolve the differences, said Johnson, chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
Johnson said proponents of race track expanded gaming are "doing a successful job of communicating and educating legislators."
They have shown the negative impact of casinos on horse racing and how the two can mutually exist, Johnson said.
"One of the things driving this is revenue and the desperate need for it (by the state)," Johnson said. "The governor has encouraged new lottery games."
The state's horse racing industry estimates enhanced gaming could generate between $400 million and $800 million for the state.
Johnson said the Senate votes on expanded race track gaming "is too close to call."
"I still support it," Johnson added. "I know what it means to Hazel Park and the gaming community. No one seems too concerned about what happened to them when Indian casinos were built.
"They ignore an industry (horse racing) with a long history. The industry has been hurt along with the communities that provided the entertainment."
Johnson added, "A lot of people are adamantly opposed to gambling. But that horse left the barn in the 1970s with the lottery. Gaming has been legal in Michigan for decades."
Expanded video gaming would be controlled by the State Lottery Bureau.
A spokeswoman in the governor's office said Granholm doesn't favor the "proliferation of gaming."
"But she isn't necessarily closing the door on individual proposals (like expanded horse track gaming)," the spokeswoman added.
Shiawassee County State Rep. Larry Julian, R-Lennon, sponsored the House bill.
While Julian believes the Senate's version will be a close vote, he contends there are sufficient votes to approve the measure, said his spokeswoman Val Vail-Shirey.
Under the House version, 92 cents of the money bet on video lottery machines would be returned to bettors as winnings. Sixty percent of the remaining money would go to the race tracks, horse racing pools and breeder awards. The other 40 percent would be shared by K-12 education, the agriculture department and general fund. Host communities would get one-half percent.
The Senate committee could change some of payouts formulas, an Allen spokesman said.
Wagering at all seven horse tracks in Michigan reached a high of $467.6 million in 1996, but steadily declined to $365.2 million 2002.
Hazel Park Harness Raceway is the city's largest employer. Besides paying more than $200,000 annually in property taxes, the track also delivered "breakage" money - the odd cents from bet payoffs - to the city. In 2002, the city received $600,000 in breakage money, down from about $900,000 in 1998.
Lobbyist Derek Smiertka of Advocacy Specialists representing Hazel Park said Jacobs is ready to sponsor an amendment to a Senate expanded horse track gaming bill giving the city a bigger share of the revenues from video lottery terminals.
"I will come down to leadership," Smiertka said. "We're making a case the (host) communities need the revenues. (The race track) is a huge part of Hazel Park. It needs revenue."
The Hazel Park Harness Raceway recently started a $30 million renovation at the track.
The 54-year-old grandstands have been removed. They will be replaced with a smaller seating area closer to the track this spring and later a 56,000-square-foot multi-purpose facility with a sports bar.
The renovation will be patterned after another company owned facility at the Tri-State Race Track & Gaming Center near Charleston, W.Va., which also has enhanced gaming.
