Our legislators seem hellbent on making gambling easier; they want more taxpayer money to spend without having to raise taxes. Gambling is a tax whether our legislators want to admit it or not. The only thing the revenue from gambling will be used for is for the state to spend more of our hard-earned dollars. The governor and legislators who support additional gambling want to take money out of our billfolds to spend as they see fit. Our state government does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending sickness.

Gambling itself is a gamble — our legislators are betting on the income. If gambling is expanded and the income projections are not met, taxes will be raised to cover the deficit left in its wake. Spending and the budget are based on the revenue projections given by people who look at gambling revenue in the most favorable light.

It’s happened before; the projected income from new forms of gambling have not met expectations and taxpayers who never gamble share the increased tax burden with those who do.

Gambling is not a panacea for our problems. The only solution to our problems is for our government to learn to live within its means. There is no risk in that and everyone benefits from a more efficient government.

Expanding gambling will do nothing to help our government live within its means, and it certainly won’t make government any more efficient. If anything more accessible gaming will cost the taxpayers more money. Studies have shown that crime rates increase near casinos and gaming parlors and a host of other social problems such as divorce, bankruptcy and suicide rates also increase.

The cost to the state (taxpayers) is real and it is great. We do not need an expansion of gambling; we need legislators who are willing to do the hard work to find real solutions to Minnesota’s fiscal problems. It’s a sure bet!

 

Pat Williams

member

Citizen Steering Committee

Citizens Against Gambling Expansion

Aitkin