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Senate Defeats Expanded Gambling Bill
Language that would have allowed slot machines in bowling alleys and other recreational businesses doomed a proposal to expand gaming in Kansas, a spokesman for a lobbying group hoping to bring a casino to Dodge City said Friday. "We feel that it largely failed because of additional amendments that were made to it for bowling alleys and things of that nature that weakened it, and it just couldn't get the support in the Senate," said Jeff Thorpe, spokesman for Boot Hill Gaming Inc. The Senate voted 26-14 Thursday night to reject a bill that would have allowed up to five state-owned casinos, slot machines at the state's five parimutuel tracks, and up to five slots at Kansas' 240 fraternal and veterans' halls. In those respects, the bill reflected Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' plan for expanding gaming. But the measure would also have allowed slots at bowling alleys and other businesses that offer their patrons the chance to play the state's Club Keno game - a provision that went beyond the governor's proposal. The Senate had previously defeated efforts to take bowling alleys out of the bill, as well as an amendment reducing the maximum number of state-owned casinos from five to three.
Sebelius was disappointed in the Senate's failure to take up her original plan, said the governor's chief legal counsel, Matt All. "First of all, the bill that was voted on last night went well beyond the governor's vision of expanding gaming in Kansas," he said. "And so, we're disappointed that her bill, in its original form, never got a vote on the Senate floor. We're also disappointed that the Senate has chosen not to allow local communities to decide for themselves whether to expand their economy through gaming." Sen. Larry Salmans, R-Hanston, said he voted against the bill for two reasons: He thought the measure was too broad, and the people who drafted it had failed to consider the possible social and economic costs of expanding gaming. "They threw this thing together without looking at the unintended consequences," Salmans said.
SOURCE: Associated Press.
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