Workers protest gaming tax hike in Washington

Paul Queary

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 10:12 a.m.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Hundreds of shouting blackjack dealers, cashiers and other workers at non-tribal minicasinos rallied on the snow-chilled Capitol steps Tuesday to protest Gov. Gary Locke's proposed new gambling tax.

Inside the building, a powerful Senate committee chairwoman said Locke's proposal had little chance of passage. She said she was leaning toward a statewide vote on a broad expansion of gambling in Washington.

As part of his proposal to close the state's billion-dollar budget gap, Locke has proposed a 10 percent tax on the gross receipts of cardrooms, punchboards and pulltabs. His proposal would also raise bet limits in cardrooms from $100 to $300. The new tax would raise $74 million, he said.

But operators of minicasinos, also known as enhanced cardrooms, said the tax would simply drive them out of businesses by widening an existing competitive advantage enjoyed by tribal casinos, which aren't taxed and can offer a wider and more lucrative selection of games.

Non-tribal casinos already pay as much as 20 percent of gross revenues in taxes to local governments. Locke's proposal would cap the total tax bite at 25 percent.

"That is a holdup," George Teeny, owner of two La Center minicasinos, said.

Minicasinos are limited to poker and various forms of blackjack, games that cannot practically be changed to increase the profit margin, Teeny said. Increase the house's percentage, and players will go down the road to a tribal casino.

"It's not like a pound of tomatoes, where you can raise it 3 percent," Teeny said.

As a counterproposal, the minicasinos are pushing a bill that would make them subject to state taxation but would also allow other games including crap tables, roulette wheels, and machines that look, sound and operate like slot machines. Tribal casinos offer such games, as well as higher betting limits, and non-tribal operators say they're at a disadvantage.

Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Seattle, plans a hearing on that bill on Thursday in her Senate Labor, Commerce and Financial Institutions Committee. Prentice said Locke's proposal is all but dead.

"It wasn't dead on arrival," Prentice, D-Seattle, said. "I let it get embryonic as a courtesy to the governor."

However, Prentice said she would push for a referendum on a broader expansion of gambling.

"We need to turn to the public," Prentice said. "This is a big change in policy."

Kristine Marree, a Locke spokeswoman, said the governor hasn't changed his mind on his proposed cardroom tax or on his opposition to a broader expansion of gambling.

"We all know he's not a big fan of gambling," Marree said.

If the Legislature chose to put a gambling expansion before the voters, it would bypass Locke and avoid a veto threat.