Gaming

Missouri Casino Measure Faces Legal Challenge

Joe Mathews — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:08:00 -0400

Two lawsuits have been filed against the ballot initiative, a gaming industry effort to eliminate loss limits at casinos. The claim is that the initiative, by making several changes in gaming law in Missouri, would violate the single-subject rule -- the requirement that initiatives cover only one subject. A detailed report on the legal dispute is here.

Thursday Round Up: Oregon, Arizona and Colorado

Joe Mathews — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:19:00 -0400

OREGON GAMING MEASURE DROPPED: Backers of an initiative to establish Oregon's first non-tribal private casino say they've decided not to go forward. They could revive the proposals, but want to see how proposals for two tribal casinos fare first.

IMMIGRATION COPS: The Arizona legislator who wants to allow police officers to enforce immigration laws is pursuing dual tracks -- a ballot initiative and legislation at the same time. The initiative is back-up, he explains.

COLORADO GOV RAIN ON SPEAKER's INITIATIVE: Gov. Bill RItter, a Democrat, questions the political strategy behind an effort by the Democratic House speaker in his state to qualify a measure lifting some of the state's spending limits. Ritter has been trying to reduce the number of measures on the November ballot.

ONE CENT SALES TAX TO FUND TRANSPORTATION: Arizonans, including Gov. Janet Napolitano, have launched an initiative to pay for $42 billion in transporation spending with a one-cent sales tax. The full plan for how they would spend the money is due next month.

RIGHT TO WORK TAB: It cost more than $300,000 to qualify the "right-to-work" initiative in Colorado for the ballot, according to the Denver Post.

'PERSONHOOD' OPPONENT: Here's an interesting profile of the former Boulder mayor and current Planned Parenthood official who is leading the campaign against Colorado's "personhood" initiative, an anti-abortion measure that would seek to protect the unborn by giving them all the rights of human beings.

NOT COMING TO KANSAS CITY: The mayor there wants a ballot measure to establish light rail on the November ballot, but he's not getting much support.

TAKE IT TO THE PEOPLE, JR: Members of the Dallas city council are seeking a public referendum on whether the city should own a hotel development outright.

Tuesday Round Up: School's Out on Nevada Election Day

Joe Mathews — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:52:00 -0400

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: Here's an important and under-reported story: Nevada's schools will be closed on Election Day in November. That should boost turnout in a swing presidential state. And it also could give a boost to the Nevada teachers' unions, who are attempting to raise gaming taxes to boost education funds. Not having to teach that day will boost turnout. Also, about 800 of the poll workers could be students, says the state's registrar of voters. In related news, a Nevada judge rules that two measures to tax gaming to provide funds for education can remain on the ballot. The judge thinks they make little sense, but says that the voters have the right to decide that for themselves.

AG'S DOMAIN: Some agriculture interests are getting aggressive in opposing Prop 98, one of the two measures on June's California ballot that would put restrictions on eminent domain. The Sacramento Bee says that this represents a divide in the agriculture community, since the California Farm Bureau is one of the initiative's backers. (Prop 98's restrictions include tigher limitations on using condemnation for private purposes and on retn control than its competitor, Prop 99).

COLORADO CORPORATE FRAUD: The proponent of the Colorado initiative making business executives criminally responsible for corporate fraud explains himself.

MAINE MISS: The Maine initiative to establish a casino has lost its campaign manager, according to ballotpedia.

A DIFFERENT WAY OF PUBLIC FINANCING: An Alaska legislative committee has added money to the state budget for education campaigns that appear to be designed to fight off a ballot initiative lawmakers don't much like. Since states by law often have to provide unbiased information -- most notably in voter pamphlets -- this action is a mistake and should be quickly reversed.

OREGON TOP TWO ADVANCES: An initiative to establish a "top two" primary system in Oregon appears likely to qualify for the November ballot. This style of "open" (that is, multi-party) primary has recently received some backing from the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down previous open primaries. Here's a description of how it works.

Thursday Round Up: A Look at a Petition Firm

Joe Mathews — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:59:00 -0400

DEPARTMENT OF MOON HOWLING: The Las Vegas Review & Journal takes a long look at one of the country's more important signature firms, National Voter Outreach and its CEO Rick Arnold. I've interviewed Arnold in his Carson City home, and found him to be one of the more thoughtful people in the petition trade, critical of its problems and clear-eyed about its limitations. This story is built heavily around criticism from the liberal/progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which is quick to lable signature gathering as corrupt (at least in cases where it opposes the cause in question). There is a "shocked, shocked" quality to this criticism. The signature gathering business has plenty of problem workers, many of them poorly trained folks who, for lifestyle reasons, have taken a job that usually pays them in cash. But BISC and other critics invariably propopse to criminalize the process of gathering signatures, as in Oklahoma. In supporting these restrictions, liberals are hurting themselves, by establishing precedents restricting political speech that can be used by their political opponents. And such restrictions don't stop direct democracy. They merely slow it down, adding to the costs (and thus the influence of interest groups) that progressives love to denounce. The more you regulate, the more firms like National Voter Outreach will benefit.

BLOOMIE AND ARNOLD: Mike Bloomberg, deepening his involvement in California initiative politics, hosts a fundraiser tonight on behalf of Gov. Schwarzenegger's redistricting ballot initiative. It's still gathering signatures on the street.

MICHIGAN POT: Medical marijuana initiative makes the ballot in Michigan after legislature declines to adopt the measure itself. (hat tip to Ballotpedia).

INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: A ballot initiative to establish an individual mandate for health care in Michigan is now circulating on the street.

NO ANIMAL CONFINEMENT MEASURE IN COLORADO: Colorado's ballot will be a little less crowded, as animal rights advocates drop their farm animal confinement measure. The state legislature passed legislation similar enough to satisfy the initiative's backers.

OAKLAND YOUTH: Here's an interesting report on a city of Oakland (Calif.) ballot initiative to double funding for a youth services program.

NEVADA NEUTRALITY: School superintendents, never fan of teachers' union, are staying out of a coming mega-ballot war in Nevada over the union's effort to raise taxes on gaming to generate more funds for education.

MAINE DEBATE: A referendum question has been submitted in Maine that would remove "sexual orientation" from human rights and discrimination law, and bar same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples.

PARENTAL NOTIFICATION: Here's a description of another attempt, via California blalot initiative, to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions. A similar initiative went down in the 2005 special election. Over the past week, I found this initiative was a low priority for the state's signature gatherers. It's pay $1 or less a signature, half the price being paid by sponsors of redistricting, crime victims' rights, and alternative fuel measures.

FROM OVERSEAS: Croatians won't get to vote on their country's decision to join NATO.

Silver State Tax Fight

Joe Mathews — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:51:00 -0400

The Wall Street Journal devoted its lead op-ed last weekend (unfortunately, the link and story appear to have disappeared from the paper's subscription-based web site) to a battle between casino interests and its teachers’ union.

The Nevada State Education Assn. has drafted an initiative that would raise business taxes on the large casinos to 9.75 percent from 6.75 percent. If the measure makes the ballot, this would be the initiative equivalent of the heavyweight title fights that Vegas loves to host.

Teachers’ unions and gambling interests are the two of the biggest-spending entities in the country when it comes to direct democracy. And this battle could create problems for whomever emerges as the Democratic presidential nominee. The powerful Culinary Workers Union opposes the teachers on this measure, and both unions likely will pressure the Democrat to choose sides.