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Gambling revenue in Conn. outstrips declining corporate income tax
By Associated Press, 3/11/2001 13:10
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gambling in Connecticut now generates the third largest source of state revenue, outpacing corporate income tax revenue.
Money raised from legalized gambling totals $595 million. Revenue from the corporate income tax, which has declined as a portion of corporate income, is $580 million.
The personal income tax and sales tax are the top sources of state revenue.
The state is expected this year to commission its fifth comprehensive study of problem gambling, but Gov. John G. Rowland is seeking to cancel the study.
The review, scheduled once every five years, should instead be conducted every 10 years to save the study's $500,000 cost, Rowland says.
The gambling impact study is not necessary and he would prefer spending money to treat compulsive gamblers, he said.
''I think everybody knows pretty much what the impact is of gaming in the state,'' he said.
Marvin Steinberg, a psychologist and director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said he is not surprised at efforts to scuttle the study.
''The more dependent we are on this gambling revenue, the less inclination there is to study it,'' he said.
State government would have a tough time without gambling revenue.
''It's a double-edged sword,'' said Roy Occhiogrosso, a spokesman for state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin B. Sullivan, D-West Hartford. ''The revenue that comes into the state coffers from state-sanctioned gambling is vital.
''That's one-half of the story,'' he said. ''The other half is that the more the state sanctions gambling, the more people in the state gamble, which means the number of problem gamblers increases.''
Sullivan believes the five-year gambling study should be conducted as scheduled this fall, Occhiogrosso said.
Most of the gambling revenue is from two sources: $253.7 million from the state lottery and $335 million from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods.
The tribes give the state 25 percent of slot machine revenue.
Part of the reason corporate income revenue has declined is because the rate has been reduced from 11.5 percent of income in 1995 to 7.5 percent last year.
In addition, gambling revenue could increase significantly this fall when Mohegan Sun doubles the number of its slot machines, from 3,000 to 6,000, as part of a $960 million expansion.
During the 2001-02 fiscal year that begins July 1, state revenue based on gambling is projected to rise to $617 million, from $590 million this year.
By Associated Press, 3/11/2001 13:10
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Gambling in Connecticut now generates the third largest source of state revenue, outpacing corporate income tax revenue.
Money raised from legalized gambling totals $595 million. Revenue from the corporate income tax, which has declined as a portion of corporate income, is $580 million.
The personal income tax and sales tax are the top sources of state revenue.
The state is expected this year to commission its fifth comprehensive study of problem gambling, but Gov. John G. Rowland is seeking to cancel the study.
The review, scheduled once every five years, should instead be conducted every 10 years to save the study's $500,000 cost, Rowland says.
The gambling impact study is not necessary and he would prefer spending money to treat compulsive gamblers, he said.
''I think everybody knows pretty much what the impact is of gaming in the state,'' he said.
Marvin Steinberg, a psychologist and director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said he is not surprised at efforts to scuttle the study.
''The more dependent we are on this gambling revenue, the less inclination there is to study it,'' he said.
State government would have a tough time without gambling revenue.
''It's a double-edged sword,'' said Roy Occhiogrosso, a spokesman for state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin B. Sullivan, D-West Hartford. ''The revenue that comes into the state coffers from state-sanctioned gambling is vital.
''That's one-half of the story,'' he said. ''The other half is that the more the state sanctions gambling, the more people in the state gamble, which means the number of problem gamblers increases.''
Sullivan believes the five-year gambling study should be conducted as scheduled this fall, Occhiogrosso said.
Most of the gambling revenue is from two sources: $253.7 million from the state lottery and $335 million from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods.
The tribes give the state 25 percent of slot machine revenue.
Part of the reason corporate income revenue has declined is because the rate has been reduced from 11.5 percent of income in 1995 to 7.5 percent last year.
In addition, gambling revenue could increase significantly this fall when Mohegan Sun doubles the number of its slot machines, from 3,000 to 6,000, as part of a $960 million expansion.
During the 2001-02 fiscal year that begins July 1, state revenue based on gambling is projected to rise to $617 million, from $590 million this year.