Keeping up with the Joneses

It may be a sin, but allowing your possessions to match (or even one-up to a degree) what your neighbor has displaying has been going on since the beginning of time.
There’s little doubt that a few thousand years ago if a caveman was spotted using a waist-high fire, his neighbor soon had one up to the shoulders. And don’t get started on the wheel, ... but maybe that’s when GEICO came in.
Well, it’s no different in today’s times, especially with state policy.
Generally if there’s no competitive threat, the wheels of change are slow. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it ... right?
But all bets are off if a neighboring state shuffles the cards.
Look at Pennsylvania. It’s gotten to the point where it seems the Keystone State has become a steering wheel, of sorts, for the rest of the Mid-Atlantic — especially for what’s legal and illegal for some states’ respective ag industries.
This has especially been the case for two of its neighbors, New Jersey and Maryland, as Pennsylvania has made sales of raw milk and slot machines at horse tracks legal within the last couple of years.
Ever since, Maryland and New Jersey have been scrambling to see what to do.
You see, in both cases, their citzens can now take a short trip drive across the state line and legally do what is illegal back home. In short: Lost revenue.
Pennsylvania’s slot machines have sparked alarm into the admittedly slumping horse racing industries in New Jersey and Maryland. They were already dealing with other neighboring states’ slot-legal horse tracks — which attract both higher prize purses and an extra draw for those people who may be interested in spending their disposible income on something other than just the win, place and show.
Maryland — whose legislators have long opposed slots — now has a referrendum to its voters this November to perhaps legalize the devices at various points — including a few racetracks — in the state.
Meanwhile, New Jersey is trying to hammer out a deal with the casinos in Atlantic City — the only place in the state slot machines are legal — to create a consistent revenue stream for its racetracks.
Practically anyone you talk to in ag sees the potential effect slot machines has on horse racing is a good thing.
The raw milk issue is a bit more polarizing for Maryland and New Jersey.
Some plead their cases that raw milk has been around for generations and if it’s regulated correctly, it’s just as safe to drink as pastuerized milk.
Others are quick to point to the worst-case scenario — which is not entirely a far-fetched conception: If someone were to get sick from tainted milk, the first fingers of blame would be at the ag industry who dared to allow it to happen.
Fair or unfair, perception is usually viewed as reality — and that albatross can be tough to shake from your neck if enough people get wind of it.
Stay tuned, though. It’s a topic that surely won’t go away anytime soon.