Senator backing casinos won’t name his clients in horse industry
State Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown
By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — State Sen. Damon Thayer, who is expected to file a casino gambling bill in coming days that could bring big bucks to Kentucky’s horse industry, collected at least $208,835 in consulting fees from the industry during 2010 and part of 2011, according to court records.
Thayer, R-Georgetown, runs Thayer Communications and Consulting out of his house. According to his firm’s Web site, Thayer founded it in 2007 to serve “companies in the equine industry” following two decades of executive jobs in horse racing, including a seven-year stint at Turfway Park, a racetrack in Florence.
From his consulting firm, Thayer earned $132,835 in 2010 and $76,000 during the first eight months of 2011, according to an asset disclosure that he signed Sept. 12 in his divorce records. In an interview Monday, Thayer said those income figures “sound in the ballpark.”
By comparison, Thayer said in court that he makes $35,000 a year as a part-time senator.
However, Thayer declined Monday to identify his clients or explain if they would gain financially from casino gambling. His annual financial disclosure statement at the Legislative Ethics Commission does not require him to name his clients, he said.
“I’ll have to think about it,” Thayer said.
The Legislative Ethics Commission requires lawmakers to identify clients if they employ lobbyists at the General Assembly, as several racetracks do, including Churchill Downs and Keeneland. Thayer’s 2011 financial disclosure form does not list any such clients. On Monday, he said nobody who pays him has lobbyists at the legislature.
Opponents of casino gambling pledged to use Thayer’s consulting fees against him in public debate unless he explains who in the horse industry pays him to do what.
“If Senator Thayer is the sponsor of the casino bill, then I absolutely will file an ethics complaint against him,” said the Rev. Hershael York of the Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort.
“This just smells,” York said. “There’s no question he has very close ties to the horse industry. It’s hard to see how none of his clients will profit from this bill he’s about to file. And I don’t think it’s unreasonable for us to ask him to explain this to us.”
Thayer’s bill, which is expected to take the form of a proposed constitutional amendment, has the potential to be a windfall for Kentucky’s racetracks and horse farms.
Under past casino proposals pushed by Gov. Steve Beshear, with whom Thayer is collaborating, casinos would be located exclusively at racetracks. The state’s taxes on casino revenue would be shared with the horse industry, largely through fattened racing purses.
Racing interests this month released a study that projected $164 million in tax collections going to the horse industry in the first year of casinos.
Thayer, co-chairman of a legislative subcommittee on horse farms, long has promoted the horse industry. He helped establish the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund, which has distributed $51.2 million to breeders of winning horses since 2006, funded by a sales tax on stud fees. He also championed “Instant Racing,” a new form of electronic gambling on previously run races, which is bringing in millions of dollars at Kentucky Downs, a Franklin racetrack.
While Thayer, 44, never has hidden his outside work as a horse industry consultant, he also has provided little detail about it. The Web site for his firm lists a few of his representative clients from recent years, including several Central Kentucky horse farms; the Claiming Crown annual racing event, which was held in 2011 at a Churchill Downs-owned track and casino in New Orleans; and Pinnacle Race Course in Michigan.
Since the casino bill potentially involves billions of dollars, it requires the greatest possible transparency, said Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst for The Family Foundation of Kentucky, which opposes expanded gambling.
“We think every legislator who plans on even voting for this bill needs to give full disclosure of their personal and professional involvement in the horse industry, and particularly with any entity that stands to gain from casinos,” Cothran said.
Thayer also could face questions on the campaign trail this spring. Ricky Hostetler, a Georgetown Republican and Tea Party activist, said Monday that he will challenge Thayer in the May 22 primary. Hostetler said he’s looked into Thayer’s consulting business out of curiosity, and he would like to know who pays his district’s senator.
“I’m sure this will be a concern we raise,” said Hostetler, an electrical contractor.
Filed Under: Damon Thayer • KY General Assembly
About the Author: John Stamper is the accountability editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Monticello, Ky., he has been with the Herald-Leader in a variety of roles since graduating from Western Kentucky University in 2000. Reach him at jstamper@herald-leader.com
What a crook.
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How completely unfair. I would expect a newspaper to be more responsible in their reporting of the facts and not just baseless, yes baseless accusations. It is obvious that this Senator is filing a constitutional amendment to be put on the ballot for the people to decide. How can you accuse someone of trying to benefit his clients if he isn’t even the one that gets to make the decision? The people of Kentucky want to vote on it. Let’s vote and put this behind us.
“How can you accuse someone of trying to benefit his clients if he isn’t even the one that gets to make the decision?”
Because he’s a prime mover and shaker in the decision to legalize casino gambling for the benefit of racetracks, authoring the legislation that will go before the electorate, that’s why – and if he doesn’t do that, the tracks, owners, breeders etc. don’t get their extra handouts courtesy of the rest of us. If he doesn’t move the amendment through the Senate, it doesn’t happen. His mystery clients may stand to gain hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to his actions.
The casino gambling bill is going to be a giveaway to the horse industry. Casino sites will be reserved for the horse industry and they’ll earmark millions from the proceeds as handouts for the horse industry (corporate welfare for wealthy fat cats, at the expense of the rest of us). Sen. Thayer will be instrumental in determining the scope of these handouts for his clients in the horse industry – he will write the bill, which will set forth the benefits for the horse set.
Sunshine is the great disinfectant. It is obvious here that this legislator is acting in the interests of people who give him a nice six figures each year. That reeks. If you or he disagree, then let him show us why. Disclose.
Not only that, but people seeking favors from government shouldn’t be able to put money into the pockets of government officials. That’s true whether it is Sen. Thayer arranging handouts for the horse industry, or Mayor Greg Fisher of Louisville having people put money directly into his pocket under the guise of repaying his loan to his campaign. What conclusion can any reasonable person draw from that other than that those people want to buy influence and favors by paying these officials?
A question for the good reverend: Does “judge not lest ye be judged” not apply to threatening to file ethics complaints? Or does that directive not apply to ministers for some reason?
This is a huge non-story. Who cares? And I say this as someone who opposes casino gambling as welfare for racehorses.
On an unrelated subject, that captcha is doing a great job of weeding out the spammers, isn’t it?
“If you or he disagree, then let him show us why.”
Sunshine,
You are putting off more heat than light. Fact: in 2010 and 2011 Senator Thayer did not support the horse industry’s gaming legislation that would have allowed the legislature to authorize expanded gaming in Ky. Fact: Senator Thayer has always been in favor of a voter referendum on any changes to Ky’s gaming laws.
So what you are alleging is that the horse industry paid Senator Thayer to oppose their bill in 2010 and 2011? Really??? What kind of bizarro world does that happen in? Get your facts straight. In fact, get some facts, especially before you spout off at the risk of tarnishing a good man’s name. “Thou shall not bear false witness”.
Let the light in, Sen. Thayer. The heat is getting to be a bit much for one of your supporters on here.
If there’s nothing there of concern, there’s no reason to hide it.
Facts: Thayer opposed casino gambling legislation that would’ve benefited the horse industry. The horse industry then gives him six figures. Now he supports a bill that would be a huge handout to the horse industry.
To use your mature and thoughtful term, what kind of bizarro would not think that was fishy?
Maybe he gave them honest work and just changed his mind. Maybe he was paid incredibly generously for little work and that enticed him to help them out. Who knows? Let him put it to rest if he doesn’t want people thinking something is fishy about it.