Catholic Conference of Kentucky

ACTION: CALL 1-800-372-7181 IMMEDIATELY. URGE YOUR STATE SENATOR TO VOTE NO ON SENATE BILL 151.

Read our letter to Senators urging a NO vote on SB 151: Catholic Conference Letter Opposing Expanded Gambling

Sen. Damon Thayer, SB 151 sponsor

An effort to expand gambling in Kentucky has begun, supported by professional gambling corporations, the racing industry, various labor unions and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. In other words, a lot of money is betting that SB 151 will pass. WE CANNOT LET THAT HAPPEN.

We posted early in the session about some of the reasons the Conference has opposed efforts of this sort since at least 1996.

Senate Bill 151 as introduced wants to expand gambling beyond horse racing and our state lottery by allowing 7 casinos to open if the legislature approves the bill for ratification on the November ballot. The Conference has written a letter detailing our opposition which we encourage you to read.

Kentucky needs a stable stream of revenue that is progressive in nature, a reformed tax law that requires taxpayers to pay their fair share. The state should not depend on an unreliable, regressive source of funding like professional gambling to meet the needs of its residents, especially the 800,000 already living in poverty.

Income derived from expanded gambling is the result of gambling losses – money spent by those hoping to be winners, but who are, ultimately, losers. Is this a responsible way to fund government?

In 2008 the University of Kentucky’s Survey Research Center found that found that Kentucky’s overall prevalence rate of lifetime compulsive gamblers is 0.3 percent of all adult Kentuckians. The overall prevalence rate of lifetime problem gamblers is 1.7 percent. The overall prevalence rate of lifetime at-risk gamblers is 6.2 percent. Based on this research, it is estimated that there are nearly 190,000 at-risk gamblers, more than 50,000 problem gamblers, and more than 9,000 compulsive gamblers.

Data from the 2008 survey indicates, among gamblers, the following groups are at relatively higher risk to have some manifestation of problem or compulsive gambling:

• males
• young adults 18-24 years of age
• Blacks and other racial minorities
• those who have never married
• those who have been divorced or who are separated
• employed adults
• individuals in residing in households with incomes of $25,000 or less.

Senate Bill 151 is not a dream, but a nightmare that is regressive in nature as a revenue source, preying on needy individuals especially vulnerable to the lure of the casino and the promise of great fortune. For those who are struggling to make ends meet, casino gambling can provide an attractive means to relieve financial burdens, which ultimately only leads to crushing debt and personal crisis.

An article published February 17 in the Lexington Herald-Leader about Governor Beshear’s weekly Internet chat reported that the Governor “touted gambling as a way to generate additional money for the state budget by allowing casinos to open and then taxing their revenue.”

Apparently Governor Beshear did not read the article published January 16 in the Lexington Herald-Leader - Casinos no cure-all for state budgets, economists say – reporting on the experience of other states and the failure of professional gambling to provide the revenue necessary to meet the needs in those states. The newspaper found that in two dozen states with casino revenue “[a]ll of them cut spending; half raised taxes. Some fired thousands of their public workers, including educators and police, and gutted their basic classroom funding.”

Any number of studies point to the harmful effects that result in expanding the opportunities to gamble, especially among low-income persons and those who suffer from gambling addiction. A 2009 study in Connecticut found an increase in employment and revenues, but also a 400 percent increase in embezzlement arrests, a doubling of driving while intoxicated arrests, and an increase in personal bankruptcies in areas where the state’s two Indian casinos are located. The data is clear that proximity to casinos in general and predatory slot machines in particular increases addiction rates, and casinos derive at least 60% of their revenues from problem gamblers.

When looking at potential sources for new revenue, it is the responsibility of government to consider the consequences. Continued expansion of gambling will be devastating to individuals and families.

We cannot improve the conditions of our low-income sisters and brothers by throwing away some of them to lives of addiction to predatory gambling. The Catholic Conference of Kentucky continues to support the resolution of the Kentucky Council of Churches in which it states the following:

For the Christian, the common good, therefore, must be established by just and honest means. In a democratic society, government must persuade its citizens to support with their taxes the programs the citizens believe will be instrumental in nurturing and protecting all members of society and efficacious for productive economy and just relations among all residents of that political entity.

ACTION: CALL 1-800-372-7181 IMMEDIATELY. URGE YOUR STATE SENATOR TO VOTE NO ON SENATE BILL 151.

Photo: KY Legislative Research Commission

As this year’s General Assembly session nears the half-way mark bills of interest to the Catholic Conference have advanced; others still stalled; some not yet introduced.

Fr. Larry Snyder addresses participants at the annual Catholics @ the Capitol event held in Frankfort. He is President of Catholic Charities USA.

Also, this past Monday and Tuesday, 130 parishioners from Kentucky’s four Catholic dioceses gathered in Frankfort for Catholics @ the Capitol to learn about legislative priorities and to meet with their State Senators and Representatives. On Monday evening Bishop Ron Gainer celebrated Mass and delivered a homily which touched on the important issue of religious liberty. Several members of the House of Representatives joined us for the meal following the liturgy and then heard Fr. Larry Snyder describe new and innovative ways to help people escape poverty: Speaker Pro-Tem Larry Clark, Majority Whip Tommy Thompson, Representatives C. B. Embry, Terry Mills, Jim Wayne, Addia Wuchner,  and Brent Yonts. All members of both chambers were invited.

• To leave a message for your legislators call 1-800-372-7181.
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UPDATE – February 13, 2012 – For up-to-date information on what the bishops are saying about the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate that infringes on the right of the Church to practice our faith, visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website. Use the link below to write Congress and urge passage of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act.

TAKE ACTION: SEND AN E-MAIL TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Religious Liberty

The Catholic Conference of Kentucky joins our fellow bishops and other religious leaders in expressing our deep concern about the recent decision of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services to require that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.  And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, some Catholic employers will be compelled either to violate their consciences or to drop health coverage for their employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so).  The Administration’s sole concession was to give these institutions one year to comply. (more…)

The Catholic Conference has repeatedly called for the replacement of the death penalty with lengthy prison terms, including life without parole, for all defendants. Until lawmakers heed this call, the Conference has supported limiting the use of the death penalty in Kentucky. In 1992 the Conference was successful in ending the use of the death penalty in cases where courts determined a defendant is a mentally disabled person. Now the Conference is hoping to see the use of the death penalty ended when defendants can prove to a court that they suffer from a severe mental illness that was active at the time of the crime.

ACTION: Thousands of Kentuckians, especially those associated with the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition and with the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Kentucky, have written postcards asking Chairman John Tilley to hear House Bill 145 in his House Judiciary Committee.

Join your voice to theirs by calling 1-800-372-7181 and leaving a message for Rep. Tilley and for your own State Representative asking that they do everything they can to bring HB 145 to the House floor for a vote.

WHY IS THE BILL NEEDED?

• The death penalty cannot deter someone who cannot understand the consequences of his/her actions; and
• Because of their diminished capacity severely mentally ill persons should be treated in ways similar to others who have that same standing, e.g., persons with mental retardation or those under 18 at the time the crime is committed.

In December 2011, a report prepared by a group of Kentucky’s distinguished jurists, legal scholars, and practitioners and issued by the American Bar Association found significant flaws in our capital sentencing process and made several unanimous recommendations. One of these was that Kentucky should end the use of the death penalty for severely mentally ill persons.

TO WHOM DOES HB 145 APPLY?

The proposed legislation, HB 145, is narrow in its application and applies only after a judge determines the following conditions have been met:

• A defendant is severely mentally ill;
• The severe mental illness was active at the time the crime was committed; and
• The crime in question was committed after the effective date of the act.

TO WHOM DOES HB 145 NOT APPLY?

HB 145 is narrowly drafted and does not apply to the following persons:

• Individuals currently sentenced to death and awaiting execution; or
• Persons whose actions are attributable solely to the intentional use of alcohol or other drugs.

HOW WILL IT WORK IN THE COURTROOM?

As proposed, HB 145 would call for a hearing before trial, during which a judge would be presented evidence by the prosecution and the defense regarding the issue of severe mental illness. If the judge finds that the defendant meets the criteria set forth in this bill – the defendant has a severe mental illness that was active when the crime was committed – then the judge will order that the death penalty is excluded from consideration by a jury.

HOW WILL A GUILTY DEFENDANT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

All other penalties for capital murder are still available, including life without parole. This assures the guilty are punished and Kentuckians’ safety is secured.

Resources on the Death Penalty

The Catholic Conference is a member of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and also works with the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Factual information is available from the Death Penalty Information Center. And the Conference has published pastoral letters on this issue and other issues regarding the protection of human life.

ACTION: Call 1-800-372-7181 and leave a message for Rep. Tilley and for your own State Representative asking that they do everything they can to bring HB 145 to the House floor for a vote.

Take Action: Call 1-800-372-7181 and ask your legislators to support HB 332 when they have the opportunity to vote for its passage or in a committee meeting.

On Friday, January 27, Rep. Darryl Owens introduced House Bill 332, which would cap the interest rate on payday loans at 36%. This bill is virtually identical to HB 182 in the 2011 Session. In addition to the interest rate cap, HB 332 would require payday loan companies to disclose in a prominent way the effective interest rates being charged and would bring this industry into a regulatory environment similar to that of other lending institutions.

Conference Position

The Conference supports HB 332 . Catholic Social Teaching is very clear that banking and lending are important services and can contribute to the common good, but such practices can easily lead to usury. The state has a role to play in protecting consumers, especially the poor, from predatory lending practices. As Pope Benedict XVI said to European bankers in 2010, “Economics and finance do not exist for themselves, but are mere instruments or means. Their end is solely the human person and his full realization in dignity. This is the only capital worth saving.” Honest and fair lending practices lead to job creation, economic growth, home ownership, and many other good and important things. Predatory lending and usury lead to the unjust enrichment of a few on the backs of those with the least to lose.

Also, payday lending often creates a debt trap which is very difficult to break out of. According to the payday lending database mandated by the state, there are two million transactions each year in Kentucky, with an average of 1.7 transactions per customer per month. Clearly, for many people, this is not an occasionally used product, but is a means of financing routine monthly expenses. It is for these regular users that the high effective interest rates become a tremendous burden.

The coalition supporting HB 332 continues to grow. The Catholic Conference is especially pleased to be working alongside our brothers and sisters in the Kentucky Baptist Convention, which has recognized the exorbitant Interest rates charged by payday lenders, often totaling 400%, to be usurious.

Here is an op-ed by some Lexington, KY pastors that the Lexington Herald Leader published: Payday lending entraps people.

Action

Call 1-800-372-7181 and ask your legislators to support HB 332 when they have the opportunity to vote for its passage or in a committee meeting.