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December 14, 2008

Andra Bryan Stefanoni: Casino issues return to table

PITTSBURG, Kan. — When it comes to gambling in Kansas, one thing is a sure bet: It’s an issue that will continue to claim part of the limelight when the Legislature convenes in January.

It’s also an issue that hits close to home in Southeast Kansas. At a recent send-off with local leaders and constituents, area legislators put their cards on the table.

With the state budget looking its bleakest in perhaps a couple of decades, they thought gambling would tip the hand in the state’s favor. But after recent withdrawals by casino companies, legislators are wondering if the state ever will see a full house.

“We’re 20 years behind Missouri and Oklahoma, and we’re playing catch-up from a revenue standpoint,” said state Rep. Bob Grant, D-Cherokee. “And now it’s just not shaping up like we thought it would.”

After five or six hours of filibustering last session, Senate Bill 66 narrowly passed, allowing for slots at racing tracks and three gambling zones in which state-owned casinos could be built.

This was good news for gambling supporters in Crawford County, who looked forward to the reopening of Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac. It closed in 2000, just months after it opened.

Billionaire Phil Ruffin, a large lobbying presence in Topeka, proposed a nearly $30 million upgrade to expand the Camptown operation to become a “racino,” which would include slot machines.

Numerous area officials, including Grant, state Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, and the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, argued that it could be a real shot in the arm for Southeast Kansas economic development and for the state, which under current legislation stands to gain 40 percent of the earnings from such gambling at racetracks.

And that’s where Ruffin folded.

“Mr. Ruffin was going to be allowed to run slots, no table games, and they would have to give 40 percent to the state,” Grant said. “They got to figuring it up, and the cost of doing business, they couldn’t make it. They were wanting 22 percent like destination casinos were going to have.”

Now, legislators will be faced with either opening SB 66 back up or introducing a bill that changes those percentages, Grant said.

“With the problems we had getting gaming passed before, I’m not sure that gaming can be accomplished,” he said. “I see it like this: Twenty-two percent of something is better than 40 percent of nothing, which is what we have right now.”

He supports a sliding scale: “If you could say to the track owners, ‘If you make this much money, you pay this, and if it goes up, that percentage increases.’”

Menghini said she questioned the 40 percent amount from the beginning.

“It seemed to be a really high percentage, and it was set up to fail,” she said. “After the bill passed, we found out that everybody wasn’t OK with it. I would like to see it adjusted to allow them to open if that’s what it takes to get gaming in Southeast Kansas.”

But would it happen now?

Ed Van Petten, executive director of the Kansas Lottery, has said revenue for the U.S. gambling industry was off 15 percent this year; Kansas Lottery sales are down 4.3 percent from those of a year ago.

“I think you have to look at every aspect of how you can bring revenue in,” Grant said. “My contention is we’re losing about 300 jobs with Superior (Industries) and others going out, and if (Camptown) can bring in 200 or 300 jobs, that’s jobs we didn’t have, revenue we didn’t have before.”

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