Update: Greyhound owners criticize Carcieri's Twin River veto
6:12 PM Thu, Jul 02, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Making good on an earlier warning, Governor Carcieri has vetoed legislation allowing Twin River to operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, while also forcing the owners of the Lincoln track and slot parlor to drop their plans to suspend greyhound racing Aug. 8 and run a full 200-day season. The Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association soon after issued a statement criticizing the governor's veto, saying that the owners were "disappointed with Governor Carcieri for prioritizing big banks over Rhode Island jobs." The owners of the bankrupt slot parlor had served notice of their intent to suspend the live races .Aug. 8 after conducting the minimum of 125 annual racing days required by current law. Legislative relief from their obligation to run the races, at a steep loss, was also one of the conditions of the Chapter 11 restructuring plan filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court District last week. The House and Senate approved the bill nonetheless,despite warnings from Gary Sasse, the director of the state Department of Administration, that the state could lose upward of $25 million in needed gambling revenue if legislators interfere with the restructuring plan that Twin River owners, a subsidiary of BLB Investors, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week. Under that plan, Twin River would turn over the keys to the greyhound track and slot parlor to its lenders, who would be free to bring in a new operator within 120 days, unless an alternate agreement was reached. The agreement hinged, in part, on the state's approval of round-the-clock gambling, which promises to raise an additional $3 million to $4 million in state revenue, and the legislature's agreement to relieve Twin River of the obligation to run greyhound racing. In his message, Carcieri said he vetoed the legislation because dog racing at Twin River has become increasingly "unprofitable,'' the $9 million operating subsidy the owners currently pay the dog-owners "contributes to Twin River's crippling debt,'' and "most of that money inures to the benefit of out-of-state kennel and dog owners and not Rhode Islanders.'' This entry was first posted at 5:01 p.m. and updated at 5:31 p.m. Responding to warnings from the dog owners that the elimination of racing would result in the loss of 225 jobs, he said: "according to the state's licensing records, there are fewer than half that number of individuals currently licensed and authorized to work at Twin River in positions related to the live dog races, some of whom work part-time and others in jobs related to off-track wagering on 'simulcast' races from out of state. But he indicated his over-riding concern at this point is the potential loss of millions of state dollars if the bankruptcy proceeding drags on unnecessarily, in part, because the legislation forcing Twin River to conduct the dog races is "viewed by the bankruptcy court as having been enacted to do an 'end run' around the pending bankruptcy proceedings.'' Repeating the warning his director of administration gave lawmakers last week, he wrote: "To the extent that the enactment of the legislation were to interfere with the completion of the restructuring agreement, the legislation could actually result in the BLB bankruptcy filing becoming a protracted, free fall proceeding - as opposed to a consensual one.'' "If that occurs, the state could incur millions of dollars in expenses to protect the state's interest in what no doubt will be a protracted bankruptcy proceeding,'' he wrote. But lobbyists for the mostly out-of-state dog owners and their union backers at the State House won the lawmakers over with arguments that the elimination of greyhound racing would result in the loss of 225 jobs and $7.5 million in direct and indirect state revenue, including sales and income taxes paid by the workers out of their wages and millions of dollars in slot play by gamblers lured to the track by the dog races. Carcieri's veto will not, however, interrupt 24-hour gambling at Twin River. While the law allowing overnight gambling expired on June 30, the Rhode Island Lottery advised Twin River, by letter, that it was exercising its own power "to continue to extend hours of operation to 3:00 a.m. during the week and 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, as well as State and Federally-recognized holidays.'' It also advised Newport Grand, which has not opted to stay open all-night on weekends or at any other time, that it was free to continue to remain open until 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 2 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and state and federally recognized-holidays. (This entry was first posted at 5:01 p.m.) 
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