The state of the economy is having an unsettling affect on many legislators as they start to look at gambling expansion as a way of filling holes in state budgets. Maybe the exception is in Florida where a healthy influx of cash would be forthcoming if only the Crist-Seminole compact could be ratified. The legislature there has come up with severe budget cuts, 30% of which the Governor yesterday vetoed.

In Delaware the state government is considering sports betting as an option to provide additional gaming taxes. In Pennsylvania it is table games that are on the legislative menu. A plan for a 1500 gaming machine racino at Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville, Massachusetts is expected to be a major source of income and employment for the state if the bill is approved.

Gambling proponents in Texas see casinos as the way forward Tribal casino expansion across the border in Oklahoma is attracting gambling dollars from Texas residents and the shift in economic fortunes in the region makes a new source of income from gambling taxation more palatable. Resort casinos, racinos and tribal casinos could help balance the budget if Texas voters approve an amendment to the state’s constitution.

This week lawmakers in Nebraska have been told that horseracing will probably cease to exist in the state without gaming machines. However, then four local tribes could possibly set up casinos, taking gambling expansion further than most officials want. The Ohio Lottery is pressing Governor Strickland to allow slot machines, something that needs no vote by the public or legislature, and MyOhio Entertainment is back with casino plans following its November ballot defeat.

Associated Press reports that at least fourteen states are considering gambling expansion proposals. Kentucky is mulling the idea of allowing VLTs at its racetracks, as are New Hampshire and New York. The prospect of more gambling revenues still looks enticing to cash-strapped state administrations despite the downturn in gambling seen in Nevada and New Jersey. With ever greater demands on the public purse it is hardly surprising. (E-01.28.09)

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