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Gambling backers raise over $6 million

But Amendment 50 opponent lacks funds

By James Paton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 13, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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A fight over Amendment 50, a measure aimed at allowing Colorado casino towns to raise betting limits to $100 from $5, is a lopsided one.

On one side of the debate is a casino-backed group that has raised more than $6 million and has launched an aggressive advertising campaign to tout the initiative.

On the other is Jon Anderson, a Denver lawyer who opposes the expansion of gambling in Colorado. The former chief counsel to Gov. Bill Owens said he is not working on behalf of a client, and while he has filed papers to form a committee to accept contributions, he does not have a single dollar to fund the resistance.

The new proposal would let Black Hawk, Cripple Creek and Central City hold their own elections on raising the maximum wager to $100, keeping casinos open 24 hours a day and adding craps and roulette. More than three-quarters of the additional gaming-tax revenue would go to the state's community colleges.

Radio ads promoting the measure hit the airwaves in Denver last Monday after being introduced mostly in rural areas. New radio spots are expected in Denver during the coming week billing Amendment 50 as a funding increase "without a tax increase." A television campaign will follow.

Colorado already has gambling, said Katy Atkinson, a spokeswoman for Coloradans for Community Colleges, the group backing the issue on the November ballot. "This just means we are getting more money from it."

The effort comes at a time when casinos are grappling with declining revenue amid a slow economy.

Anderson, an attorney at Holland & Hart, said his job keeps him busy, but he believes the issue is important and hopes others will embrace the cause. He said Focus on the Family contacted him to discuss the issue, but he is not aligned with anyone yet.

"I want Colorado to have an honest debate as to whether moving to high- stakes, 2 4/7, Las Vegas-style gambling is the step that Colorado wants to take," he said.

Anderson said he does not have moral objections and might support a less drastic increase in stakes. But he argues that the costs would outweigh the benefits.

"If this passes, you are going to create an economic incentive for the gambling industry, the Indian tribes and the corporations putting casinos across the country to expand gaming across Colorado," he said.

The measure first would need statewide approval in November, then would go to local elections in the mountain communities. Under the measure, 78 percent of the additional proceeds would fund financial aid and classroom instruction, while 22 percent would go to the casino towns to pay for the "impact" of gambling. That means costs such as road improvements, police and social services, according to Atkinson.

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544

Comments

  • September 15, 2008

    8:21 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Ginger writes:

    Jon Anderson should get his facts straight about Native American gaming. The only tribes that have valid land claims in Colorado are the Southern Utes and the Mountain Utes and they already have casinos down in the four corners. No other tribe has any valid land claim in Colorado to allow casino expansion. The Cheyenne-Arapaho tried it near DIA and Pueblo, but their claims were settled in the 1960s and the chance that the Dept. of Interior would give them any land for an off-reservation operation is slim to none.