By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Although they contend that legislation aimed at nearly doubling the number of required dog racing days per year would push them toward bankruptcy, Twin River’s owners did not show up to testify against the bill at a Senate hearing Thursday.

The Senate Committee on Constitutional and Regulatory Issues passed the measure unanimously on a voice vote and sent it to the full Senate.
Scores of unionized workers at the gambling venue and dog owners did show up, holding signs and making impassioned pleas for lawmakers to save their jobs by preventing Twin River from phasing out dog racing as a cost saving measure.
The bill, introduced by Providence Sen. Frank Ciccone, a field representative for the RI Laborers Union District Council, would increase the number of days Twin River is required to have dog races from the current 125 to 200. It also extends Twin River’s authority to operate 24 hours on weekends and holiday eves, an arrangement passed by the legislature this year that is set to expire at the end of this month, although the Carcieri administration maintains it can extend the deal administratively, a claim that is disputed by Senate leaders.
The greyhound owners said they were promised that dog racing would continue to have a place at the facility when they gave their consent for the state to bring in VLTs at what was then Lincoln Greyhound Park a decade and a half ago and that promise was renewed when the current owners bought the place five years ago.
Now they say BLB, the consortium that owns Twin River, is reneging on the deal by moving to suspend racing after the required 125 days this year – which will fall sometime in the middle of August – and offering to buy out their $9 million a year contract for $6 million paid out in $2 million increments over the next three years.
“We have a contract,” with BLB and are not interested in the buyout offer, Joseph Walsh, a lobbyist for the RI Greyhound Owners Association (RIGOA), said after the hearing. He said the overhead for payroll alone in the dog racing operation is $4 million a year.
He said the greyhound owners live up to their share of the bargain by operating quality races and drawing an estimated 5,000 patrons a day to Twin River who also gamble at the slot machines, eat at the restaurants and drink at the bars. He rejected the notion, however, that the dog racing is a “loss leader,” an unprofitable operation offered to bring in customers for other purposes.
He told the committee that the RIGOA agreed to forgo a 2.75 percent cost of living increase in their subsidy last July. It also agreed to take a 10 percent cut in earnings, equal to about $1 million, with no quid pro quo. In addition, he said, when BLB moved to lay off clerks who took the bets on the dog races, RIGOA agreed to pay $5,000 so they wouldn’t get laid off, because not having the clerks would have hurt the racing operation.
In a letter written to members of the committee that was BLB’s only presence at the meeting, Vice President Craig Eaton said, “we regret that we can not do more, but if we are forced to continue to subsidize the RIGOA at the level of over $10 million a year, it will be a significant factor in the determination of whether a Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) filing is unavoidable. Under that scenario, no one wins. Not the dog owners, whose existing contract is subject to termination in a bankruptcy proceeding. Not the state of Rhode Island, which could see its share of the revenues decline in the event of a Chapter 11 filing, especially if inability to reach agreements among key constituencies led to a protracted and contested bankruptcy. And not the town of Lincoln, which would realize a loss in not just gaming revenue but in taxes on food and beverage.”
Eaton called eliminating the payments to dog owners “an important component of our ability to restructure our balance sheet,” saying that unnamed “parties-in-interest” have made it clear that “it is not viable to negotiate consensual restructuring agreements unless the subsidy for live racing is addressed.”
But the fact that Twin River’s owners did not show up in person to make their case irked key lawmakers.
“My take on it is if they were not here, then it wasn’t very important to them,” Chairwoman Maryellen Goodwin said after the vote. “If it was that important, they would be here. Absolutely anyone who wanted to be heard was heard. I’m surprised at BLB for not being there offering some testimony to the committee. The dog owners made a good case and a clear case for why they should stay.”
Sen. John Tassoni said he was “appalled” that BLB did not show up to testify. “They are the ones crying foul. They sent a letter? That doesn’t show good faith as far as I’m concerned.”
After the hearing, Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle told a reporter that “given the situation and the likely outcome that the written testimony was enough for the record.
“We didn’t write them off,” Doyle said in response to a question, “but we understood that it was likely to pass and we thought it was important to articulate our position and that is what we did with the written testimony. We consider it a very important issue but we know there is a long process involved here, it goes to the full Senate and then to the House.”
If the bill passed both chambers it would go to Gov. Donald Carcieri for his signature or veto. Carcieri has made no secret that he believes Twin River could operate without the dog racing and he would not be upset to see it go. In fact, the track owners are paying the $10 million subsidy for the dog racing because Carcieri put a stop to the practice of the state paying it when the facility was sold to BLB.
House leaders on Thursday ignored a request for comment on whether they believe dog racing should continue at Twin River.
Walsh, the RIGOA lobbyist, said the owners knew “their industry would be devastated” if video slot machines were installed at what was then just a dog track, but when they went along with the idea “we were told we would be a partner.”
That argument seemed to resonate with the committee.
Chairwoman Goodwin, speaking just before the vote, said, “a deal is a deal,” and BLB struck a bargain to continue the races with the dog owners in 2005.