Casino news source: Courier-Journal - http://www.courier-journal.com
Casino bill in jeopardy, Democratic leader says
Wilkey: Support short of 60 members needed
By Gregory A. Hall
ghall@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The senior Democrat in charge of counting members\' votes said yesterday that he doubts a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling will get the 60 votes it needs to pass in the House.
Rep. Rob Wilkey, D-Scottsville, the House majority whip, estimated just over 50 representatives would vote to allow nine casinos with no licenses set aside for racetracks.
\"I\'m not sure that you can muster the next 10,\" he said. \"I think that its fate is in serious jeopardy.\"
House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said the amendment would not be called for a vote on the House floor until he believes it has at least 62 votes.
Gov. Steve Beshear said he\'ll be working through the weekend and into next week to find support in the House.
\"It\'s a very controversial issue and it\'ll be difficult to get the votes necessary, but we\'ve got an opportunity to do it,\" Beshear said.
The debate has centered on whether the constitution should be changed to not only allow casino gambling, but promise a certain number of racetracks the right to open casinos. Rather than include such detail in the constitution, Richards says allocating licenses to tracks could be included in subsequent legislation that would address how casinos would operate.
Changing the state constitution needs a three-fifths vote in each chamber and a statewide referendum. But the law spelling out details could be changed at virtually any time by future legislatures.
Richards said the constitution\'s inflexibility is a reason to leave out details. But others argue the tracks need constitutional protection and Wilkey has filed legislation to give them that.
The horse industry coalition that favors casinos -- the Kentucky Equine Education Project -- decided Thursday to support the bill for now with the understanding that it needs changing later.
That decision will help the amendment get closer to 60 votes, Beshear and some legislators said yesterday.
But some legislators said the casino amendment in its current form could leave Kentucky tracks with no casinos if they are outbid by better financed competitors. That, they say, could lead to the destruction of Kentucky\'s signature horse industry.
The tracks have sought casinos as a way to compete with entertainment and gambling facilities in other states like Indiana and to provide richer purses.
House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville, who favors some dedicated licenses for tracks, said he is concerned about the horse industry\'s support for the current bill, \"but that\'s their decision.\" He said it\'s \"risky business going down that road.\"
Nine casinos competing with racetracks would kill the tracks, Wilkey said. \"It\'d be the end of the industry here.\"
But, Wilkey said, the casino amendment would likely face changes in the Republican-majority Senate.
\"It is something of a leap of faith (by the horse industry), but given the distance this bill has to travel I think it\'s a pretty safe bet,\" Wilkey said.
Wilkey said he has received assurances from the Senate that the bill will not pass without protections for the horse industry. \"And I think that\'s the only reason people, like myself, will consider voting for it in its current form.\"
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, has said any casino amendment would not pass that chamber -- where it needs 23 of 38 votes.
In the House, Democrats have 63 of 99 occupied seats, but will need Republican support.
Rep. David Osborne, R-Prospect, is a thoroughbred horse owner who supports casinos to help tracks but opposes the current amendment. But he also said he will reconsider since the horse industry has endorsed it. \"But I also have to get comfortable with it myself and I just haven\'t gotten there yet,\" he said.
The bill in its current form \"could have potentially devastating effects,\" Osborne said.
Ellis Park in Henderson and Turfway Park in Florence \"are hanging on by a thread anyway and bringing increased competition for that gaming dollar to within the state, I think it pretty much seals their fate.\"
The current amendment also could hurt healthier tracks over the long haul like Keeneland Race Course in Lexington and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Osborne said.
Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, who helped create the current amendment, said she believes licenses could be set aside for tracks in the enabling legislation and that there isn\'t any risk for the tracks in their current position.
\"I think there\'s overwhelming support for the horse industry, even though people differ on the wording of the amendment,\" she said.
Without the tracks\' support, Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said, \"I don\'t think they have a snowball\'s chance of getting it to 60, and I think that\'s the proper thing for the industry to do. … Nobody gets what they want 100 percent in this process.\"
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