Gambling states addicted to easy money: Our view
With Atlantic City casino revenue in a steep decline, last year New Jersey began offering online gambling to its citizens. It didn't help much, so now the state wants to take a bigger step.
Gov. Chris Christie has given the go-ahead for casinos and racetracks to offer sports betting, despite a 1992 federal law that bans the practice in all but four states where it previously existed. A federal judge will hear Christie's argument on Oct. 6. If he's successful, online sports gambling will surely follow.
New Jersey is a prime example of how states are the worst offenders in the world of gambling. They are both addicts and pushers. They throw temper tantrums and upset settled policy when their fix of gambling revenue runs low. And rather than compensating for the effects, they encourage their own citizens to gamble more and in different ways.
New Jersey's problem is that its near-monoply on casinos on the East Coast has come to an end. Adjoining states have gotten into the act. Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware have all opened casinos recently, part of a national trend that has seen them spread from Nevada and Atlantic City to 23 states.
As of 2012, America had 513 state-licensed casinos, plus 466 on tribal lands.
This has crushed Atlantic City's existing business. This year, four of its 12 casinos have closed. Others could follow.
The lesson seems obvious: The farther gambling spreads, the less likely it is to produce the gusher of revenue that entices states to approve it in the first place.
Ultimately, states with gambling will be primarily be extracting money from their own residents. At best, this is a wash for the local economy. While gamblers do spend money and create jobs, they would likely spend it in other ways that sustained other jobs if casinos were unavailable.
What's more, gambling imparts hidden social costs that other industries do not. These come largely from 1% to 2% of gamblers who are considered compulsive. Their uncontrolled behavior leads to lost jobs, decreased productivity and more bankruptcies. It generates more crime and higher rates of divorce. And it necessitates more spending on benefits such as welfare and unemployment benefits.
A 2011 Baylor University study estimated the cost of all this at $9,393 per compulsive gambler per year.
There are much more efficient and humane — though more politically challenging — ways for states to make ends meet. They can raise taxes. They can also cut spending.
Instead of facing those unpleasant choices, too many states pretend that gambling is a painless solution. Gambling-related measures are on the Election Day ballot this year in California, Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington state. More online gambling, likely including sports betting, seems certain to follow. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calls sports betting inevitable.
Maybe so. The trend toward ever-more legal gambling seems only to gain steam. But as the New Jersey example shows, the days of states hitting a jackpot are coming to end.
USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.