The Register-Herald
BECKLEY —
It was reported last week that since the Casino Club at The Greenbrier opened on July 2, the state has reaped $564,655 in revenue. And the resort’s director of casino operations, Todd Fishon, says he expects the revenue to keep growing.
You can bet your bottom dollar that Republicans in the House of Delegates, the same ones who blocked $1 million in state grant money designed to help promote and advertise the resort and the state during the recent PGA Greenbrier Classic, gladly accepted that $564,655 into the state treasury.
It’s one thing to keep a watchful eye on how tax dollars are spent. It’s quite another to confuse “government giveaways and corporate welfare,” as House Republican leaders termed it, with investment.
And that’s what this $1 million grant would have been — an investment the state would have recouped many times over in a relatively short amount of time.
In just over a year, Jim Justice, owner of The Greenbrier, spent millions of dollars of his own money to keep the famed resort from likely closing — saving hundreds of jobs, putting scores of others to work, revitalizing a region that was in despair and bringing in a world-class sporting event that was global in both participation and exposure.
Just think about it for a moment. He prevented hundreds of unemployment claims and likely kept many, many people from having to turn to Medicaid and food stamps.
And in the process, he helped generate loads of new tax revenue from both inside and outside the gates of the resort and instilled a new sense of pride among all West Virginians.
But yet, a handful of legislators either refused or didn’t have the vision to look at the big picture. And there is no justification for it, despite their attempts to do so.
They need to open their eyes and realize that money is not designed to flow one way.
They also need to realize that investment opportunities like this only come around so often — about as often as a 59 on the golf course.
The only difference is, the House Republicans’ scorecard was filled with bogeys instead of birdies, and it’s time they own up and admit their errant ways rather than blowing political wind.
