Legislature selling out free market principles

Last week I discussed video gaming changes that the Legislature made this year as they sought more revenue. However, the Legislature decided to sell out all of their free market principles in the process.  

In addition to giving the Lottery 10 percent of the video gaming money, the Legislature also decreed that the machine split, that is the share of winnings between the machine owner and the store operator would be set at 50/50, after the lottery gets its cut. In the past, when the free market ruled, the split was sometimes 80/20 or even 90/10 in favor of the store operator. The machine owners convinced your elected legislators that they weren’t getting their fair share, so the free market took it on the chin.

I try to understand, really I do. However, how a Republican dominated Legislature can begin to interfere in lawful business relationships to the point of giving one group (machine owners) a guarantee of revenue over another group (machine operators) is hard to fathom.

I have prosecuted and defended over the years both groups for violating the law on cash payouts. I am not partial to either side. But the Legislature obviously is, having taken the side of the machine owners and guaranteeing them a fixed income. Amazing!

Need an example of how absurd this is? How about if the Legislature guaranteed that milk distributors would get 50 percent of the price of a gallon of milk? Or if they decreed that your banker was entitled to 20 percent of your cash deposit for providing you that service? Where does it end?

On the penalty side, paying cash to a video game winner will now be a felony instead of a misdemeanor. That will let the State seek RICO (racketeering) charges upon someone being charged with paying cash. In the past the crime was a misdemeanor, requiring prosecutors to dream up bogus commercial gambling charges to attempt to seize property, which was allegedly the fruits of the illegal gambling operation.

So the price of sin for the individual is going up in more ways than one. The store operator is now looking at a felony for violating the law. For the Legislature, the price of sin is more money to be doled out at their discretion. For society, we now have the Legislature deciding revenue splitting agreements between companies engaged in lawful business. Where will it end? It will end when liberty becomes the standard again.

Kelly Burke, former district attorney and magistrate judge, is engaged in private practice. He focuses on personal injury cases and corporate litigation. These articles are not designed to give legal advice, but are designed to inform the public about how the law affects their daily lives. Contact Kelly at kelly@burkelasseterllc.com to comment on this article or suggest articles about the law that you’d like to see.

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