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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Proponents of expanded gambling in Kentucky didn't hit the jackpot this year.
Kentucky lawmakers rejected Gov. Steve Beshear's proposal earlier in the year to offer voters a constitutional amendment that would allow casinos in the state. The issue hasn't seemed to help legislative candidates who favored it either.
With this year's election resulting in almost no change in the General Assembly's partisan breakdown - one net gain for Democrats in the House and status quo in the Senate - the future of expanded gambling faces uncertain odds.
"It's a political loser all the way around," said Martin Cothran, a spokesman for the Lexington-based Family Foundation.
Gambling played a central role in some legislative races this year but came up short.
It was a key issue in a special election for an eastern Kentucky state Senate seat in February. Republican Sen. Brandon Smith, of Hazard, based his campaign largely on his opposition to the idea and won. Last week, expanded gambling simmered in two competitive state Senate races and the candidates who didn't oppose putting a proposed amendment to voters lost.
Gambling also was an issue in Tuesday's election in two state Senate races where pro-casino Democrats were hoping to make inroads. They also fell short.
Nationally, efforts to legalize or expand gambling had mixed results in Tuesday's election.
Arkansas voters approved a state lottery. Maryland residents approved gambling on slot-machines. Missouri residents voted to remove limits on gamblers' casino losses, cap new casino licenses and raise taxes on those already there. And, voters in Kentucky's northern neighbor, Ohio, defeated a proposal to allow casino gambling there.
Kentucky already allows gambling on a state lottery, horse racing and bingo. But efforts to increase gambling options in the Bluegrass state could surface again - and soon.
Churchill Downs president Bob Evans last week telegraphed another effort to expand gambling in Kentucky when the legislature returns next year.
"With Maryland voters just approving slots there this week, Kentucky is now the only one of the three states that conduct racing's storied Triple Crown without legislation allowing slot machines," Evans said during a conference call.
State Rep. Greg Stumbo, a Prestonsburg Democrat, said he's planning to propose allowing video gambling machines at horse tracks. Stumbo, a former attorney general, said it could eventually bring in more than $400 million and help the horse industry. It doesn't require a constitutional change, Stumbo claimed.
Allowing additional gambling at horse tracks may stand a better chance than making an argument for full blown casinos, Stumbo said.
"As far as the reaction that the legislators will have, it's going to be totally different from all the hoopla surrounding casinos," Stumbo said.
Maryland's move last week increases competition for Kentucky's horse racing industry and could be damaging, Beshear said.
"Obviously, the more other states do that benefits their horse industry and the more states do to make it very tough for us to compete in Kentucky, the more risk we run eventually of losing our title as the horse capital of the world," Beshear said.
Still, Kentucky lawmakers have been reluctant to vote on gambling proposals in recent years. That's partly because Republican leadership in the GOP-controlled Senate has opposed expanded gambling legislation.
Solid opposition in the Senate makes it an unattractive vote for some House lawmakers, Cothran said.
"They don't want to stick their own necks out if they know that it's not going to be passed by the Senate," Cothran said.
Republican David Givens defeated Democrat Steve Newberry last week in a southern Kentucky Senate race that touched on gambling. Givens opposes gambling, while Newberry said he would vote to put an amendment before voters despite his personal opposition.
Givens said he believes odds of approving casino gambling diminished after last week's election.
"The firewall that the Senate has been remains strong," Givens said. "It sends a message to those seeking expanded gambling in Kentucky that there are strong forces that oppose it."
Democrat Kathy Groob and Republican Sen. Jack Westwood also sparred over gambling in their northern Kentucky race.
Groob, who supports it, narrowly lost to Westwood, who said he opposes gambling but would vote to put an amendment before voters. Groob is asking state election officials to take another look at the voting results.
While gambling's future is "tough," Kentucky's budget problems could make it an attractive alternative to tax increases for some lawmakers, Groob said.
"I would never say never," Groob said.
Beshear announced late last month that Kentucky's budget woes are only worsening. State revenue is on pace to fall short nearly $300 million in the current fiscal year that expires June 30, on top of an already projected $900 million two-year drop through 2010.
Kentucky's two-year state budget is about $19 billion, and it included spending cuts in numerous areas including social programs and higher education.
Beshear's proposal, which he advertised as having potential to raise $500 million per year, never made it out of the Democrat-controlled House. Beshear said he's concentrating on solving the state's current fiscal problems, and that gambling revenue would not be an immediate help.
"Whether it will play a role in a longer-term solution to our financial difficulties is yet to be determined," Beshear said. "Obviously, it's an issue that I still am interested in."
2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
