Legislative Wrap-Up 7/13/18

Racinos get tax relief

Delaware's three racetracks that allow slot machine gambling – Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway & Casino and Dover Downs Hotel & Casino – will get to keep more revenue from those machines after a bill passed the Legislature and was signed June 30 by Gov. John Carney.

A casino relief bill introduced in the Senate originally asked for a 2 percent revenue increase for the tracks, but Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, put forth an amendment that lowered the percentage to 1 percent. “We cut the take in half of what the tracks wanted,” Schwartzkopf said, adding that the original bill was put forth before full scale sports gambling was approved and implemented in Delaware. Experts say casinos that offer full scale sports gambling typically see a 2 percent revenue boost.

Schwartzkopf said he expects his amendment will give racinos the tax relief that they need. “If not, I told them I would come back next year and fight for them,” he said.

Direct wine shipment defeated in House

A bill that would have allowed direct shipment of wine to consumers failed June 30 in a close House vote. Representatives voted 21-19 against the bill with one absent. The passing vote in the Sentate was even tighter, 11-10 in favor. The bill would have allowed three 9-liter cases delivered to a single home per year. Wine producers holding a valid license in Delaware or another state would have been able to ship directly to Delaware consumers using a common carrier, in the now-defeated bill.