Jackpots or Crackpots

BY: Jack “Miles” Ventimiglia, Editor

Bowing to gambling interests to raise money for the state goes too far, Sen. Julia Lynn, R-Olathe, charged after lawmakers approved Kansas casinos.

“We have prostituted ourselves. Our state was for sale,” Lynn said.

The bill lets residents in four counties decide whether to allow state-owned casinos, and slot machines at race tracks. Wyandotte County is in line for a casino and could permit slot machines at The Woodlands dog track.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' signature on the gambling bill seems certain.

“The people of Kansas will finally have a chance to decide for themselves whether to allow expanded gaming,” Sebelius said.

Expect a court challenge, Lynn said.

“According to our Constitution, we only have approval for lottery, not this expanded gambling,” Lynn said.

Lynn's laundry list of problems with the bill includes pitting the state against private businesses, ignoring loss limits, allowing the state to self-police and giving the state a smaller percentage of the take than commanded in other states.

Supporters estimate the bill means roughly $200 million annually that the state could use in areas including university system repairs.

“This new revenue will allow the state to meet key needs, such as deferred maintenance at Kansas universities and local property tax relief, while avoiding a tax increase,” Sebelius said.

BET ON THE HOUSE

The bill named Wyandotte one of four counties around Kansas designated as casino sites.

“It's going to suck business from small business owners, from small restaurants, even maybe some of the chains,” Lynn said. “Let's face it, you go to a destination casino in Wyandotte County – it's got cheap food, it's got cheap drinks, it's got all the whistles and bells, it's fabulous, it's this, it's that – and that's going to be pretty hard to compete with.”

Rep. Cindy Neighbor, D-Shawnee, said the bill would not hurt Johnson County.

“All of those people that are gambling already from Johnson County are going over to Missouri and gambling right there,” she said. “What this is going to do is keep our people in our state, and hopefully those dollars in our state.”

Kansas offers gambling already, including at Indian casinos, Neighbor said.

“All of that money that people are spending on (Indian) gambling currently is not producing any revenue for the state because they don't have to pay taxes,” she said. “What this will do is offer choice.”

NO LOSS LIMITS

Lynn said state lawmakers wrestled this session with legislation, such as health insurance for the working poor, then adopted a bill that hurts the same people.

“That's hypocrisy at its finest,” Lynn said.

Based on the proposed law, a person could walk into a casino and in a single roll of the dice lose everything they own, she said.

“There were no loss limits identified in this legislation,” Lynn said.

Neighboring Missouri is the only state that imposes loss limits on gamblers.

Missouri Gaming Commission spokeswoman LeAnn McCarthy, Jefferson City, said Missouri casinos operate on riverboats. Players sign on for timed “cruises.”

“It's a $500 buy-in per two-hour excursion,” McCarthy said Tuesday.

Missouri Gaming Commission Director Gene McNary said the commission takes no position whether to keep the limits, but finds they do not prevent gamblers from losing large amounts of money.

“It's our review and analysis that the loss limits do not accomplish their original purpose,” McNary said. “They can lose $500 in two hours, then they can lose $500 in the next two hours. In a 10-hour period they can lose $5,000.”

The limit puts Missouri casinos at a competitive disadvantage with Illinois casinos on the state's east side and the same could happen on the west side if a casino opens in Wyandotte County, McNary said.

Missouri Senate bill 430, supported by Charlie Shields, St. Joseph, proposes removing the loss limit. McCarthy said bill supporters have gotten a boost from Kansas' plan to operate casinos without loss limits.

Neighbor said Kansas lawmakers considered and dismissed a $500 weekly limit on losses.

“That seemed pretty prohibitive as far as the body was concerned and I doubt you would have had gambling in the state of Kansas if that had passed,” she said.

Lawmakers instead agreed to study gambling, with the potential to create laws to address concerns that may arise. They also set aside funds to deal with addicts.

“We have the lottery, we have bingo, we have Indian casinos and I'm sure we do have problems with gambling addiction, but the one thing this bill does offer is $17 million to address this, which we've never had before,” Neighbor said.

STATE POLICING STATE

Having the state police state-owned casinos suggests the fox guarding the henhouse. Lynn said the state should not do both.

“That opens the door for possible corruption and cronyism, and that's a dangerous place to be,” she said.

The Kansas Republican Party blasted the idea of the state owning casinos, though the majority of Senate and House members are Republicans and the measure would have failed without their support.

“This is a first in the entire nation,” party Executive Director Christian Morgan said. “To my knowledge no other state has crossed the line into becoming business partners with the casino industry.”

Republican Party Chairman Kris Kobach called government ownership of casinos “a recipe for political corruption.”

The legislation requires the state to lease the casinos to private operators who will be policed based on oversight from a gambling commissioner, Neighbor said.

“They will be state-owned, but privately run,” she said.

THE HOUSE TAKE

Under the proposal, Lynn said, Kansas would receive 22 percent of gaming revenue. She called the cut too low.

“A lot of the other states that have this have a higher percentage than that – it's in the high 20s and mid-30s,” Lynn said.

Neighbor said the state is not the only governmental entity to take a cut of the money under the bill. Further slices of the revenue pie will go to cities, counties, abuse programs, casino operators and horse and dog track owners.

“The attempt on this was to look at all players and say … everybody will have a little bit,” she said.