Hooray! Our schools have been saved! Doing what Colorado taxpayers did not do for perceived school budgets, generous Rhode Islanders have heard our pleas, and have arisen to redress our shortcomings! And all we have to do in return is to allow a private firm in Rhode Island to harvest gambling money (“the house always wins”) from Colorado and make an Eastern-State-style kickback to “hook” our populace vote-wise. The “hook” will be 34 percent of their take here, and it amounts to an advertised $114 million per year. The payoff will take place under the aegis of a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution (Amendment 68) and it restricts usage of the money to K-12 education only. Effective essentially forever, whatever its merits.
We should be thankful for such help —- until we wipe the tears of gratitude from our eyes and consider that their total take from Colorado is easily calculated to be $347 million per year, less the “kickback” to the Colorado Treasury, from already hard-set citizens! As constitutional provisions are not easily changed, this amendment will be effective forever once the end-recipients of these funds lock-it-in politically. If the gambling funds diminish or disappear during recessive times, calls will almost certainly be made for taxpayer help.
What about un-stated external costs probably left to Colorado taxpayers? Extra civic administration, additional policing, social support for cleaned-out families, etc.
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? Feature a city's pot-holed, two-lane road suddenly connecting with the casino's four-lane highway entrance?
I will vote no for this proposal, and I strongly urge you to vote no as well.
Alf Modahl