Topeka ? For more than a decade, proposals to expand gambling have gotten nowhere, but supporters say the Kansas Supreme Court may have provided the needed push to make it a reality.

With the Legislature in special session because the court ordered it to find additional money for public schools, some supporters detect a favorable shift because of the promise of extra money for the state.

Senators expected a debate Thursday on authorizing casinos and permitting slot machines at dog and horse tracks to help finance higher spending on education. Two competing proposals are in play.

“It’s even money or better,” said Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina, a supporter. “I think there may be the votes.”

Opponents weren’t making predictions.

“It’s hard to tell,” said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler.

And even if a gambling bill passes the Senate, its prospects are uncertain in the House, which is more conservative on the issue.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, says there’s enough money to carry out the court’s mandate from improved revenue projections and the state’s cash reserves.

“It’s always close,” said Rep. John Edmonds, R-Great Bend, chairman of the House committee that handles gambling bills.

Kansas already has bingo, a state lottery, betting on dog and horse races and four Indian casinos. Since the early 1990s, legislators have considered proposals to allow non-Indian casinos and slots at the tracks.

But those measures have always failed, with dissension among gambling promoters and resistance from legislators who worry it would create social problems, such as crime and gambling addictions.

The proposals before the Senate are dubbed “Little Casino” and “Big Casino.” Both would permit casinos in Wyandotte County and southeast Kansas, as well as slots at dog and horse tracks in Anthony, Eureka, Frontenac, Kansas City and Wichita.

But “Big Casino” also would permit casinos in Dodge City, Junction City and Wichita, while “Little Casino” would force developers in those areas to go back to the Legislature for permission in future years.

Both bills require the tracks and casino developers to pay $15,000 per slot machine up front. Such payments would generate an estimated $82.5 million from the tracks and $30 million from each casino.

The Supreme Court ordered legislators to provide an additional $143 million to schools by July 1. While new, more optimistic revenue projections suggest the state can afford the increase without gambling, it will need new revenues to prevent budget problems in the future.

The two bills aren’t the only alternatives.

In October, Sebelius signed a compact with the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes permitting them to build a casino near Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County. The tribes promised the state a share of the revenues in exchange for limits on new gambling elsewhere. Legislators must approve the compact for it to take effect.

The Kickapoo, Sac and Fox and Prairie Band Potawatomi also have asked Sebelius to negotiate a compact allowing them to build a casino in Cherokee County in southeast Kansas.

Such compacts appeal to legislators who believe some expansion of gambling is inevitable and want to limit it. But before an Indian casino can be erected off the reservation, the land would have to be put into federal trust, which is typically a process of a year or more.