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Non-Tech : Littlefield Corporation (LTFD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Pettee who wrote (6419)	1/15/1998 8:43:00 PM
From: SE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10368

Ed, I beat you to it...the latest from The State.... GO PACK GO! -Scott -------------------- Posted at 8:11 p.m. EST Thursday, January 15, 1998 Video gambling industry tries to take back initiative through economics By JESSE J. HOLLAND The Associated Press Chanting "Save our jobs" and carrying "I'm proud of my job" signs, more than 125 people marched around a state office building in the rain Thursday to try and frame the video gambling debate in economic terms. Supporters of the $2 billion a year industry say video gambling brings 27,000 jobs to South Carolina and $60 million in licensing fees, without even counting the millions in state and federal taxes paid by industry employees. "If video poker is banned, 10,000 of those jobs are completely eliminated," said Dwight Drake, lobbyist for the South Carolina Coin Operators Association, which sponsored the protest. Republican Gov. David Beasley and other lawmakers want to ban video gambling from South Carolina, calling the industry a "cancer" on the state. "Most of the people out here would rather collect a company check instead of a government welfare check," said Eric McGlaughin, who works for Tim's Amusement in Greenville. McGlaughin, wielding a bullhorn, directed umbrella and sign-carrying supporters around a state Employment Security Commission building. Tommy Leitzsay, 58, of Columbia shuffled slowly down the sidewalk without either an umbrella or a sign. Leitzsay said he didn't work in the video gambling industry, but his father had for years. "Mr. Beasley ought to leave us alone," Leitzsay said. "Doesn't he know how many people he's going to hurt?" Beasley, who is opposed to video gambling and has asked lawmakers to ban the industry, had his answer ready at an economic development news conference. "Number one, video poker people will say anything and do anything to prey on the people in this state," he said. At Beasley's side was Commerce Secretary Bob Royall. "You give us 27,000 workers out of video poker, and we'll put every one of them in a better paying job," Royall said. "Top quality jobs," Beasley added. Beasley eliminated the machines' $61 million in revenue from the state budget he plans to submit to the General Assembly in anticipation of a legislative or a state Supreme Court ban on the industry. State Attorney General Charlie Condon planned a debate on the issue at the State Museum Thursday night. The statement "Resolved: Video poker is good for South Carolina" will be debated by former Attorney General Travis Medlock, the Rev. Tom Grey of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and state Rep. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia. "I really want people to learn as much as they can about video poker," said Condon, a Republican. "The more they know, the more they will want to get rid of video poker."