Betters sues Rendell, others over gambling law

Beaver County developer C.J. Betters filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Gov. Ed Rendell and the leaders of the Pennsylvania Legislature charging that provisions in the state's new gambling law were written specifically to block his efforts to build a thoroughbred racetrack with a slot machine casino in Hays. "We believe this legislation is outrageous, and we're not going to stand by and take it," said Betters' attorney, Thomas W. King III, of the Butler law firm Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter and Graham, during a news conference. Betters' venture, Pittsburgh Development Group, is seeking to strip-mine 650 acres on a hillside in Hays, near the South Side, to build a $600 million retail and entertainment complex called Pittsburgh Palisades Park. The centerpiece would be a thoroughbred racetrack and slots parlor to be managed by Churchill Downs of Kentucky. In addition, the development would include housing, a hotel, shops and restaurants. Three provisions in the state's gambling law are illegal because they prevent this development -- and only this development -- from securing a state slots license, King said. As a result, the law violates Betters' constitutional right to equal protection under the law and should be thrown out or rewritten, he said. First, the law allows groups that have applied for a harness racing license to apply for a slots license, but excludes those seeking a license for a thoroughbred track. Because Betters is one of only a handful of developers in the running for Pennsylvania's fourth and final thoroughbred license, this provision would make it impossible for him to win a slots license for Pittsburgh Palisades Park, King said. Second, the gambling law states that no racetrack with a slots license can exist within 20 miles of another so-called racino. The Meadows harness racetrack in Washington County, owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., is expected to receive one of the first slots licenses. King said this automatically would exclude the Hays development from winning a slots license because it is less than 20 miles from The Meadows. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review research, however, indicates the distance between the two sites is greater. Finally, the gambling law prohibits anyone from applying for a slots license who is seeking to overturn a decision made by the State Horse Racing Commission or the state's new Gaming Control Board. Betters is awaiting a decision about whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear his appeal that challenges a thoroughbred license awarded to Ted Arneault's MTR Gaming Group to build a thoroughbred track near Erie. Arneault's company owns the Moutaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va. "We are the only entity in such a situation, so we believe this (law) is specifically directed toward us," King said. King wouldn't discuss what might have motivated the governor and legislators to allegedly conspire against Betters' project when writing the state's slots gambling law. "I can't say who did what or how they did it," he said. "But we know who we are, and we know what the (law) has done to us." The lawsuit filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, names as defendants the governor; state Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubilerer, R-Altoona; state House Majority Leader John Perzel, R-Philadelphia; and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which is not yet formed. The board will be responsible for approving and overseeing the 14 slot machine licenses allowed by the state gambling law signed in July by Rendell. Betters' suit calls on U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster, who has been assigned to the case, to temporarily stop the governor and Legislature from taking any further action under the gambling law. No hearing has been scheduled yet before Lancaster. Both Perzel and Rendell refused to discuss the suit because they had not yet seen the complaint as of yesterday afternoon. "Obviously the suit has just been filed, so we have been unable to review it," Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo said. "However, lawsuits in connection with the gaming (law) were not unexpected." Jubilerer could not be reached for comment because he was attending his brother's funeral. In the past several years, Betters has been a strong financial backer of key gambling proponents in the Legislature. Since 2000, he has contributed about $36,800 to Rendell, as well as $2,250 to House Minority Whip Mike Veon, D-Beaver Falls, and $1,150 to House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese, of Greene County, according to state Bureau of Elections documents. It is "terribly far-fetched" and "outrageous" to suggest that the gambling law was crafted to foil Betters' development efforts, DeWeese said. "Mr. Betters is a friend of mine, and I certainly respect his right to engage the legal system," DeWeese said. "But I am confident that the work of the past many months will successfully stand up to the cold, hard light of jurisprudential inspection."