The gambling interests in Deadwood have an initiated amendment in the hopper to legalize sports betting in Deadwood. They’ve had their Attorney General’s statement since November 21 and thus could seek the Secretary of State’s approval of a final petition and start circulating at any time, but their petition remains on “Potential” status on the SOS website.
What are they waiting for? Maybe they are waiting to pair sports betting with a second petition that might whet everyone’s whistle. The Deadwood gambling lobby’s lawyer Roger Tellinghuisen has proposed an initiated law to allow Deadwood drinking establishments to sell alcohol all night long.
Here’s Tellinghuisen’s proposed language amending SDCL 35-4-81.2, which currently prohibits vending hooch between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m.:
…and here’s the Legislative Research Council’s recommended version:
By referring to any municipality authorized by Chapter 42-7B to allow gambling, this initiative would make it possible for Yankton gambling backers to get in on the all-night action and perhaps expand enthusiasm for the potential petition drive. But in the dark of Good Friday, Yankton gambling promoters announced they will not be petitioning this year to legalize gambling in our first capital:
Last Friday, Yankton Area Progressive Growth (YAPG) sent out a press release stating that the group was NOT doing any of the things mentioned in the opening paragraph of this piece. Instead, the release said that backers of the proposed gaming facility, which would earmark a portion of its revenue for veterans’ issues, are “taking the necessary steps to develop statewide support before placing a constitutional amendment on any statewide ballot.”
According to YAPG’s Nancy Wenande, “Signature gathering is an expensive and time-consuming process. We want to slow down and make sure we take the necessary time to work with stakeholders so we can deliver the best possible plan for our veterans, the voters of South Dakota and the Yankton community.
“We’re slowing the timeline just a bit so the voters get a chance to clearly understand the economics of this large-scale project,” she added [Kelly Hertz, “The Port Yankton Idea Changes Gears,” Yankton Press & Dakotan, 2019.04.23].
Slowing the timeline just a bit? Not petitioning this year means no petition drive for Yankton gambling until 2021, not vote until 2022, and no legalization of river-city gambling until Elizabeth Warren announces her re-election campaign for President. “Just a bit” sounds like euphemism of a group that recognizes its plan doesn’t stand much chance of success and is soft-pedaling its surrender.
Maybe the Deadwood organizers were waiting to see what the Yankton boosters decided before launching their petition. One would think organizers would have wanted to launch petition as soon as possible to catch as much of the spring and summer tourist crowds as possible. But if Tellinghuisen and the Deadwood lobby are waiting to pair their sports betting petition with hooch all night, they’ll have to wait another sixty days for Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s written explanation of their new petition… and given how slow he is at paperwork, and the fact that he’s getting sued Left and Right, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he’ll be able to meet that deadline.
As for the merits of the petition itself, well, you know me, the liberal teetotaler. Gambling and drinking alcohol both require some good judgment. For many people, rational judgment is less robust after two a.m., and gambling plus alcohol after those hours will only make such restraining judgment rarer. Allowing alcohol sales all night long seems morally and practically unwise… but I’m open to the Libertarian argument that maybe that judgment should be up to individuals rather than the state.
I do appreciate that Deadwood would still refrain from selling booze on Christmas Day… but I wonder: should they make a play for cross-denominational support by adding the first day of Ramadan to the exceptions?
The impact alcohol and casinos has is significant. All night deadwood is another reason to stay away and off the highways as the state and industry are complicit with exacerbating the tremendous societal damge done by substance and gaming addiction.
A remarkable statistic is the average of 25 year chunk of one’s life lost to alcohol addiction for the victim and obviously every associated family member. Suicide often is related. NIH
Fun stuff
I have never seen anyone in a bar after 2 that seriously needed more alcohol
How much more revenue are they trying to pick up from the all-nighters? They are that desperate?
Is there a study that shows increased revenue that pays for 24 hour alcohol consumptin
I’d be tempted to move back to SD just to vote against that thing. I never voted for gambling in the first, second or third iteration it was on the ballot.
I gambled about 3-4 times a year in Deadwood, and it was fine. If I lost $20 I was done. I usually got up about $20 and quit. That was dinner. It usually took me about an hour to an hour and a half to reach my up or down limit, and by that time I was bored. Sometimes I’d stay around for music, but I was usually on the road before the drunks got too bad.
I hear you, Mr. Pay. And in those days, Deadwood was more fun. I would tell you back in the day when I would have started my drinking at midnight I wouldn’t mind having a cocktail at 2:30 or so, and would avoid the driving of the drunks by staying in a nice room there near the establishments where people would bring you beverages after the 2am curfews.
But today I propose a different solution than all-night beverages. I propose we shut down the establishments from 2am until 7am. They lose money at night anyway, as nobody is in there and it is boring and vacuums run around and the dealers are grumpy and there is no free beer, so shut it all down. Maybe shut down from 2am until 10am is an even better idea. People need to sleep in some days. Stop drinking your beers at 7am and playing bingo. Sleep in. Go eat breakfast at a real establishment there.
All things in moderation—is that the campaign slogan against this measure?
Grudz actually makes a reasonable point about the grumpy workers. Perhaps we should campaign against 2–7 alcohol sales in Deadwood as an anti-worker measure. They’re going to require more workers to stay up all night, away from their families. Why not let everyone get some rest?
Besides, aren’t there better things to do at 3 a,m. than still be pulling desperately at the one-armed bandit? If you really can’t sleep, find a friend, walk the streets, listen for mountain lions, talk philosophy….
I wonder, leslie: does all-night drinking push more drunk drivers onto the road at 7 a.m., when we’re driving to work?
T, I agree that thing almost everyone needs at 2 a.m. more than anything else is to go get some sleep.