Kansas Senate kills latest gambling billBut many predict the issue will be backBy DAVID KLEPPERThe Star’s Topeka correspondentTOPEKA — The vote was close and the debate long, but the Kansas Senate on Thursday defeated the latest expanded gambling proposal, pitched as a fix for Kansas’ school funding crisis.
The 16-20 vote rejecting the plan came in the late evening after four hours of debate. The plan would have permitted a casino in Kansas City, Kan., and slots at racetracks throughout the state. Four senators abstained.
Senate leaders now will have to search for another way to meet court demands for greater school funding without bankrupting the state. But even with only two weeks left in the regular session, it’s likely other gambling proposals could make a return.
The Senate’s education plan would spend as much as $660 million over three years to answer a Supreme Court order for more money for schools. There currently is no plan to pay for it, potentially leaving the state with a $500 million shortfall in two years.
“By the year 2008 we’re going to be engulfed in hundreds of millions of dollars in red ink,” said Senate Vice President John Vratil, a Leawood Republican. “If gambling is not your way to solve that problem, then tell me what your way is?”
The 20 senators who banded together to defeat the plan said they couldn’t support a proposal that had the state making money off an addictive behavior. And they said casinos and 5,000 slot machines at dog and horse tracks could hurt the economy while giving millions to out-of-state casino owners and operators.
Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican, said lawmakers should take on the court, not bow to its demands.
“I will not be driven to vote for a gambling bill because of that court across the street,” he said.
The gambling proposal would have allowed two casinos — one in Kansas City, Kan., and another in southeastern Kansas. In addition, tracks in Kansas City, Kan., Wichita, Frontenac and possibly Dodge City would have shared up to 5,000 slot machines. The state would have made an estimated $200 million per year off the deal when the facilities were up and running.
The bill was the latest in a long line of gambling proposals offered in recent years. None has passed the Legislature, though gambling interests vow to try again after every defeat.
A Wyandotte County official said he was disappointed but noted that gambling seems to be getting closer to passing with every try. Don Denney, a spokesman for the county’s Unified Government, pointed out that four senators did not vote.
“They didn’t say no,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn lemons into lemonade.”
Denney said he expected gambling interests to regroup and propose another plan.
“With the school situation the way it is, I don’t think this is the last we see of gaming this session,” he said.
The proposal was opposed by other gambling interests, including Missouri riverboat operators and Kansas’ Indian tribes, who want to protect their own market share and potentially expand their operations in the Sunflower State.
Lana Oleen, a former senator who now represents the Kansas Tribal Economic Development Association, said tribal casinos make more sense.
“The money stays in Kansas because the tribes are in Kansas,” she said.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius supports expanded gambling as a solution to the state’s fiscal woes. Her chief counsel, Matt All, said he’s not sure what happens next.
“We think that Kansans want a responsible, limited expansion of gambling to fund schools,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the Legislature hasn’t seen fit to give Kansans what they want.”
Some senators who supported the gambling plan warned that a tax increase may be inevitable now that gambling again has failed. But opponents countered that casinos wouldn’t deliver the expected economic rewards and could hurt other businesses vying for discretionary entertainment dollars.
“It’s an absolute mirage,” said Sen. Les Donovan, a Wichita Republican, about the promises made by gambling advocates. “Go to Vegas and look up the hotel named Mirage. It is the perfect name for this type of operation.”
Intense lobbying efforts from both sides went up to the last minute before Thursday’s vote, and it became clear that the issue of expanded gambling in Kansas still has some life.
“This vote puts a stake in the heart of this bill number,” said Sen. Jim Barone, a Frontenac Democrat and a leading advocate of expanded gambling, “not the subject.”
The 16-20 vote rejecting the plan came in the late evening after four hours of debate. The plan would have permitted a casino in Kansas City, Kan., and slots at racetracks throughout the state. Four senators abstained.
Senate leaders now will have to search for another way to meet court demands for greater school funding without bankrupting the state. But even with only two weeks left in the regular session, it’s likely other gambling proposals could make a return.
The Senate’s education plan would spend as much as $660 million over three years to answer a Supreme Court order for more money for schools. There currently is no plan to pay for it, potentially leaving the state with a $500 million shortfall in two years.
“By the year 2008 we’re going to be engulfed in hundreds of millions of dollars in red ink,” said Senate Vice President John Vratil, a Leawood Republican. “If gambling is not your way to solve that problem, then tell me what your way is?”
The 20 senators who banded together to defeat the plan said they couldn’t support a proposal that had the state making money off an addictive behavior. And they said casinos and 5,000 slot machines at dog and horse tracks could hurt the economy while giving millions to out-of-state casino owners and operators.
Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican, said lawmakers should take on the court, not bow to its demands.
“I will not be driven to vote for a gambling bill because of that court across the street,” he said.
The gambling proposal would have allowed two casinos — one in Kansas City, Kan., and another in southeastern Kansas. In addition, tracks in Kansas City, Kan., Wichita, Frontenac and possibly Dodge City would have shared up to 5,000 slot machines. The state would have made an estimated $200 million per year off the deal when the facilities were up and running.
The bill was the latest in a long line of gambling proposals offered in recent years. None has passed the Legislature, though gambling interests vow to try again after every defeat.
A Wyandotte County official said he was disappointed but noted that gambling seems to be getting closer to passing with every try. Don Denney, a spokesman for the county’s Unified Government, pointed out that four senators did not vote.
“They didn’t say no,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn lemons into lemonade.”
Denney said he expected gambling interests to regroup and propose another plan.
“With the school situation the way it is, I don’t think this is the last we see of gaming this session,” he said.
The proposal was opposed by other gambling interests, including Missouri riverboat operators and Kansas’ Indian tribes, who want to protect their own market share and potentially expand their operations in the Sunflower State.
Lana Oleen, a former senator who now represents the Kansas Tribal Economic Development Association, said tribal casinos make more sense.
“The money stays in Kansas because the tribes are in Kansas,” she said.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius supports expanded gambling as a solution to the state’s fiscal woes. Her chief counsel, Matt All, said he’s not sure what happens next.
“We think that Kansans want a responsible, limited expansion of gambling to fund schools,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the Legislature hasn’t seen fit to give Kansans what they want.”
Some senators who supported the gambling plan warned that a tax increase may be inevitable now that gambling again has failed. But opponents countered that casinos wouldn’t deliver the expected economic rewards and could hurt other businesses vying for discretionary entertainment dollars.
“It’s an absolute mirage,” said Sen. Les Donovan, a Wichita Republican, about the promises made by gambling advocates. “Go to Vegas and look up the hotel named Mirage. It is the perfect name for this type of operation.”
Intense lobbying efforts from both sides went up to the last minute before Thursday’s vote, and it became clear that the issue of expanded gambling in Kansas still has some life.
“This vote puts a stake in the heart of this bill number,” said Sen. Jim Barone, a Frontenac Democrat and a leading advocate of expanded gambling, “not the subject.”
