For Immediate Release
February 25, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran
Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation today blasted Gov. Steve Beshear for blaming other people for the defeat of a constitutional amendment to expand gambling in the state. “The governor has only himself to blame for the defeat of his bill,” said Martin Cothran, referring to Thursday’s 21-16 defeat of SB 151. “The governor needs to stop blaming Senate President David Williams and take a look at his own incompetent legislative strategy.”

Cothran criticized the proponents who said they were going to try to defeat state senators who opposed the bill. “If the casino interests really want to improve their chances to pass expanded gambling legislation, they don’t need to replace David Williams and Republican senators; they need to replace Steve Beshear.”

“David Williams didn’t need to do anything to kill this bill. All he had to do was sit back and watch Beshear self-destruct. This is one of the worst handled legislative initiatives I’ve seen in 20 years in Frankfort,” said Cothran, spokesman for the group.

“We have a governor who apparently can’t count votes,” said Cothran, who publicly announced over three weeks ago that the bill did not have the support to pass. “We knew weeks ago that this bill didn’t have the votes. You’re telling me the governor didn’t know that?” He said Beshear, who said publicly he had 23 votes, either knew the bill didn’t have votes and was misleading the public or he just wasn’t competent enough to know what the votes were.

The governor’s bill couldn’t even garner the support of all the Democrats. “Four members of his own party voted against it. So how is that Williams’ fault?”

Cothran said Beshear’s incompetent handling of the bill alienated even supporters of casino gambling, and pointed to the fact that even the past president of KEEP couldn’t support it. “If you can’t even get the support of Brereton Jones, then you need to go back and get some remedial training in legislative politics.”

“This bill wasn’t even unveiled until four weeks into the session, and the reception was so bad the governor had to announce the same day that he was going to have to change it. They didn’t even begin airing commercials until less than a week before the vote.”

“Kentuckians don’t want monopolies for rich corporations and neither do most legislators.”

For Immediate Release
February 23, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran
Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation said that today’s vote on SB151 was a “stake through the heart” of the effort to change the constitution to expand gambling in Kentucky. The bill died in a 21-16 vote of the full State Senate.

“Today’s vote was not only a rejection of constitutional favors for fat cats,” said Martin Cothran, spokesman for the group. “It was a bi-partisan repudiation of the very idea that a rich industry should be able to engrave its name on our state’s most important governing document.”

In response to the “let the people decide” rhetoric of bill proponents, Cothran said, “In America’s republican form of democracy, people make decisions through their elected officials. Today the people did decide.”

Cothran, who had declared the bill dead three weeks ago, referenced the coroner of Munchkin City from the movie “The Wizard of Oz”: “This bill is not only nearly dead, it is really most sincerely dead.”

Cothran said this was good because he had run out of metaphors.

For Immediate Release
February 16, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran
Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation said today that not only has Gov. Steve Beshear’s gambling bill lost majority support in the State Senate, but it may be in trouble in the committee to which it was assigned. “The support for this bill is crumbling so fast, it may not even make it out of committee,” said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for the group.

“The governor just got finished launching his casino bill, and in less than 24 hours it was already starting to look like the Voyage of the Damned.”

Cothran said even though the Senate State and Local Government Committee, where SB 151 has been assigned, is the most pro-gambling committee in the Senate, the governor’s bill is now hanging on by only one vote. “The bottom is falling out of the expanded gambling effort,” he said. “If this bill is in danger in this committee, then it’s even deader than we thought, and we thought it was pretty dead.”

Cothran noted that the bill, which the governor had weeks to get right, seems to have gotten it all wrong. “This was the best chance anyone has ever had to pass a casino bill,” he said. “And the governor blew it.”

For Immediate Release
February 15, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran

Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation announced today that there is now majority opposition in the State Senate to the governor’s expanded gambling effort. ”After yesterday’s announcement by State Sen. Dan Seum that he is opposed to Gov. Steve Beshear’s gambling bill,” said Martin Cothran, the group’s spokesman, ”our count now shows majority opposition to the Governor’s plan of favors for fat cats.”

“Lawmakers are already voting on the governor’s gambling bill—with their feet.”

The bill needs 23 votes from among the 38 senators because it is a constitutional amendment. Cothran said the bill now has 18 votes at best, with 19 senators opposed or not in favor.

Cothran said the announcement of the specifics of the Governor’s legislation has only resulted in a loss of support. The bill parcels out five casino licenses for horse racing tracks and two licenses for stand-alone casinos. “The more lawmakers consider the wisdom of giving the governor’s campaign contributors the equivalent of orchestra seats in the state’s Constitution, the less they seem to support the idea.”

Cothran noted that the bill only had eight senate co-sponsors, and that only ten senators bothered to show up for yesterday’s press conference announcing the bill, SB 151. “If the governor has the 23 votes he’s claiming, where were they yesterday?”

For Immediate Release
February 14, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran

Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation called the Governor’s casino bill an “abuse of the State Constitution” and said it was “not the bill Kentuckians were promised.” The comments came in response to today’s filing of the Governor’s casino gambling bill.

“This bill is an attempt by wealthy horse track owners and casino interests to buy their way into the Constitution like box seats at a ball game,” said Martin Cothran, spokesman for the group.

Cothran called the attempt to write a wealthy industry into the Constitution “unprecedented.” “This state has never amended its Constitution to favor one industry like this. This bill writes political favors for the Governor’s campaign contributors into the very words of the Constitution. The Constitution shouldn’t be used by politicians to reward their wealthy friends.”

Cothran also pointed out that the people of Kentucky were promised that the money lost by gamblers at slot machines would go to education, health care, public safety, and local government. “But this bill doesn’t include any of that. There are favors for fat cats, but no specific provisions for public programs. It just shows what money, power, and influence can accomplish.”

His group thinks the bill has little chance of passage in the State Senate, where Cothran said the bill has been steadily losing support over the last four weeks.

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2012
Contact: Martin Cothran

Phone: (859) 329-1919

LEXINGTON, KY—The Family Foundation called today’s press conference by business and education groups in support of gambling legislation “an occupation of the Capitol Rotunda by the 1 percent.” The group also said the organizations holding the pep rally all had a financial interest in expanded gambling. It also said that the effort was too little, too late to resurrect legislation it says has been dead for weeks.

Martin Cothran, spokesman for the group, said that groups that are supposed to represent business interests and organizations that pretend to support education were “throwing their constituencies under the bus.” “The only businesses this will help are casino corporations and wealthy horse track owners,” he said. “Small business will be victimized by casinos that suck all the economic oxygen out of local economies.”

Cothran pointed to the absence of lawmakers at the event as further evidence that the bill lacks support in the General Assembly. “Where were the 23 senators the Governor claims support his bill? We didn’t see them today. We counted at most two lawmakers. If that isn’t a vote of no confidence, then we don’t know what is.” Cothran added that the other thing missing at the rally was an actual bill. “We’re not entirely clear on what they were there to support,” he said. “There is no bill.”

Cothran said the bill would already have been introduced if expanded gambling advocates had the support they claimed to have. “The Governor keeps making excuses. He attacks the Senate President and he points to the filing deadline as complications for his legislation. The only reason the Governor hasn’t introduced a bill is because he doesn’t have the votes.”