As a condition of its consensual bankruptcy agreement, Twin River will be allowed to end live dog racing.  Over the years, dog racing has become less popular and less profitable.  In order to end dog racing, Twin River needs the approval of the General Assembly.  This shouldn't be a big deal, considering that Newport Grand, formerly known as Newport Jai Alai, was allowed to drop Jai Alai, which was originally a requirement of having video slots.  It looks like a similar situation with Twin River, but there is one big difference: Unions.

     Twin River has 12 kennels, which employ 200 unionized workers.  Senator Frank Ciccone, an agent for the Rhode Island Laborers District Council, has submitted legislation to prevent the elimination of dog racing.  Organized labor and their lobbyists are doing everything in their power to make sure the union isn't affected.  Sure, it could have a negative effect on the state's revenue from Twin River, but who cares?  The unions are the top priority.

     Both Twin River and the dog owners have their own projections of the impact an elimination on dog racing would bring.  Some of the dog owners assumptions seem questionable, to say the least.  For example, they say $337,500 in income tax would be lost if the 225 workers involved in racing lost their job.  There's a big problem with this assumption, since it assumes none of these people will get another job to replace that income tax revenue.  The economy is bad, but is it really that bad?  In their own projections, Twin RIver predicts 40 jobs will be lost.  There's never a good time to cut jobs, and the state of the economy makes it worse, but there really is quite a disparity in the numbers.

     Unions usually refute criticism of their influence on Smith Hill.  During last night's budget debate, they were on the losing end on three important issues: Charter schools, pension reform, and the flat tax.  It will be interesting to see if legislators ignore the unions yet again, and decide to do the right thing.  Failure to do so could reduce the state's projected revenue from Twin River, and the economic outlook.