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Kentucky is at the center of much gambling expansion controversy as a legislative hearing acted as the stage for open discussion of what slot machines could bring to the state and what negative effects might slot machines create.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, only very recently elected, introduced a bill two weeks ago that would allow horse tracks to operate video lottery terminals.  The House Licensing and Occupations committee is currently hearing testimony on this particular piece of legislation while the 2009 legislative session is in recess.

Nick Nicholson, president of Keeneland, was sure to emphasize to the committee that time is a very important factor in getting slot machines into Kentucky racing venues.  He fears Kentucky may not be able to compete for long against states that are already subsidizing race purses with revenue generated from slot machines.

“They’re outspending us. They’re out-building us. Their purses are higher and they’re creating new jobs for their citizens,” warned Nicholson.

Speaker Stumbo is determined that Kentucky must fight for it signature horse industry and slot machines are an important tool in the battle.  According to Stumbo, slot machines have the potential to generate as much as $700 million in taxable revenue with in the first hear and as much as $1.2 billion with their first five years of operation.

Arch Gleason, Kentucky Lottery President is in complete agreement with Stumbo.

“We assumed about 12-thousand machines in the model we were looking at, at the time, spread among seven or eight locations, which obviously averaged around 15-hundred machines per location,” said Gleason.

“We had an average machine income assumption that was consistent with other states’ experience, and was in the neighborhood of around 260-dollars per machine per day.”

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