The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gamblers, educators and economic-development officials were waiting to see whether Missourians wanted to rewrite the state’s unique restrictions on casinos.
Proposition A, called “Schools First Elementary and Secondary Education Funding Initiative,” was among five statewide ballot measures before Missouri voters on Tuesday. If approved, it would repeal the nation’s only loss limit at casinos, cap the licensing of new casinos and raise taxes on existing casinos to direct more money to public education.
Three of the five proposals were easily approved by voters Tuesday.
Voters agreed to amend the Missouri Constitution to make English the state’s official language for all government proceedings. With 44 percent of the vote in, the amendment had 89 percent of the vote.
Amendment 1 prohibits using any other language in all government meetings, as well as on ballots, driver’s license exams and other documents.
Voters also approved an initiative that requires the state’s three electric utilities to increase the use of renewable sources and another that created a state council to oversee the work of some home health care workers.
Proposition A, the casino measure, was ahead with 55 percent of the vote with 44 percent of the precincts reporting.
Supporters of the gambling initiative — funded almost entirely by the owners of Missouri’s casinos — argued that it would raise more than $100 million a year in additional revenue for schools, help fund local services, and protect thousands of jobs in counties where casinos operate.
Opponents contended the measure was designed mostly to help the state’s current casinos increase profits and reduce competition from new casinos. They also said many school districts would receive little, if any, money from casino taxes.
Voters also passed Proposition C, the Missouri Clean Energy Initiative, which will require the state’s three electric utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021. It would require that any rate increase not exceed 1 percent. With 44 percent of the votes in, the proposition had 64 percent of the vote.
Also approved by voters was Proposition B, which will create a Quality Home Health Care Council to oversee and recommend changes in working conditions for home health care workers. It also will allow the workers to unionize, but ban them from striking. It had 74 percent of the vote with 44 percent of the precincts reporting.
Another proposed constitutional amendment that involves the awarding of state grants and loans for local storm water projects had 56 percent of the vote with 44 percent of precincts reporting.
