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against a pari-mutuel bill because it will cost the state more to police the program than it will generate in tax revenue.
Del. O’Brien estimated it will cost Virginia $2 million annually to monitor parmi-mutuel betting.
Backers contend they won’t attempt to ride the coattails of the lottery in an attempt to get direct support from the General Assembly. But they will point to lawmakers’ willingness to let voters decide if they wanted the lottery.
At the very least, pari-mutuel supporters hope the General Assembly also will put the question to referendum.
But Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato doubts the matter will get very far.
The University of Virginia professor of political science said it would be “too much, too soon” to expect the General Assembly to support pari-mutuel betting.
“You always have more problems with parimutuels than the lottery because pari-mutuels raise the specter of organized crime,” Mr. Sabato recently told reporters at a press conference in Richmond. “I don’t think the lottery does.”
He suggested that strongest opposition to pari-mutuel betting would come from religious ranks but speculated they would be unsuccessful in such efforts as he believes they were in combating the lottery.
Will religious groups have learned from the lottery debacle and thus back away from the pari-mutuel fight?
Mr. Sabato laughed and said: “No. I think people are always blind to their own lack of influence.”
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