House weighs gaming expansion

Budget crisis makes slots at racetracks more palatable to legislators

? Odds are even today that the House will approve more gambling in Kansas, observers on both sides of the issue said.

“It’s too close to call,” Glenn Thompson, executive director of the anti-gambling group Stand Up for Kansas, said Tuesday.

Sen. Chris Steineger, a Kansas City Democrat and a gambling proponent, had a tally sheet that showed 44 “no” votes in the House, 43 “yes” votes and the rest leaning one way or the other as House members readied for today’s floor debate.

“This is the best chance we’ve had in five years,” Steineger said.

The measure before the House would allow electronic gambling machines at five pari-mutuel racetracks and one additional site, which officials have said would probably be Dodge City or Junction City.

The gambling devices could include slot machines and video games that simulate poker, bingo, blackjack and keno.

Kansas has four American Indian casinos from which the state receives no gambling revenue. Riverboat casinos are parked just across the state line in Missouri. Attempts to allow casino games at pari-mutuel tracks in Kansas thus far have been rejected.

‘Social problems’

With the state facing a record $700 million budget shortfall, both sides agree the prospect of getting more revenue from gamblers has become more attractive to lawmakers.

“The education campaign over the past five years has demonstrated that many Kansans are already gambling, but Missouri is the beneficiary of all our money,” Steineger said.

But Thompson said lawmakers shouldn’t be swayed.

“It’s a bad bill for the state, counties and for families,” Thompson said. “This will result in destroyed families, broken homes and dozens of other social problems.”

Under the bill, the track operators keep 67 percent of the profits, while the state gets 25 percent, and various other increments are doled out to cities, counties and purse supplements for live horse- and dog-racing. The bill would direct the executive director of the Kansas Lottery to contract with the pari-mutuel license holders for the operation and management of electronic gaming machines at racetracks.

Estimated gain: $79.5 million

For the additional gaming site, the lottery executive director, with the approval of the governor, could contract with a person to operate it. The manager would earn 60 percent, and the state would earn 36.5 percent.

The Kansas Lottery estimates annual revenue from the machines would be about $318 million, which would mean $79.5 million for the state.

The measure would require that voters in the county where the licensed racetracks are located approve the casinos. There are licensed pari-mutuel tracks in Kansas City, Wichita, Frontenac, Eureka and Anthony.

In the at-large site, the vote in the county would have to be a two-thirds majority.

The bill authorizing electronic gambling machines is Substitute for House Bill 2890.