Casino initiative approved for petition gathering

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Supporters of the latest effort to expand casino gambling in Missouri have received state approval to begin gathering the petition signatures needed for a November 2004 vote.

The proposed constitutional amendment, approved Monday for initiative petition circulation, would authorize a casino in Rockaway Beach on Lake Taneycomo.

Casinos currently are limited to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Although Lake Taneycomo is part of the White River, the ballot proposal would allow a casino only in Rockaway Beach, not in nearby Branson or other towns located along the White River.

Officials in Rockaway Beach, population 275, say gambling could help revive the local tourism economy. They already have lined up Southwest Casino and Hotel Corp. to develop the project.

Meanwhile, business groups in Branson already have come out in opposition to the proposed casino.

Approval of the proposed ballot title by the secretary of state's office means supporters can begin gathering the roughly 188,000 signatures needed by next May to qualify for the ballot.

Proposed amendment

A proposed constitutional amendment needs signatures equal to 8 percent of the votes cast in the 2000 gubernatorial election in six of the state's nine congressional districts.

"We're confident the majority of Missouri will support this," said Chuck Walters, vice chairman of Missourians for Economic Opportunity, the group formed to support the ballot measure. "It would bring in new jobs, a new tax base and new tourists -- all of which would benefit the area."

If approved by statewide voters, the casino approval still would need to pass a local vote and receive approval from the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Missouri currently has 11 riverside casinos, which pay a 20 percent tax on their adjusted gross receipts, plus a $2 per-person fee for each two-hour gambling session.

Most of the tax money is distributed as part of the state's basic aid to public schools, although portions also go to local governments and other state programs.

This year, casinos are expected to generate $237 million in basic aid for public schools, said Shari LePage, chief budget officer for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The state auditor's office projects that a Rockaway Beach casino would generate $40 million to $49 million annually for the state and $10 million to $12 million for local government. But none of those tax revenue would go to the state's basic school fund.

Instead, the ballot proposal calls for half of the money to go to "priority school districts" on a per pupil basis for capitol improvements and the other half to go toward higher salaries for "all high quality teachers employed in priority schools."

'Priority schools'

The term "priority schools" was coined in legislation passed last year and supported by Gov. Bob Holden as the newest description for schools that fail to meet state academic standards.

Had the standards been in place this year, about 100 of the state's 2,300 public schools would have been on the list, said Bert Schulte, assistant commissioner for the state Division of School Improvement. However, the "priority schools" list cannot take effect until the state provides at least 90 percent of the basic aid called for by its school funding formula -- a threshold it has failed to meet both this year and last year, Schulte said.

Walters was unsure Monday how that requirement would affect the Rockaway Beach casino proposal.

But he said supporters intentionally chose a different distribution method for the casino tax revenue.

"We're very interested in the educational aspect of this proposal," Walters said. "It was our feeling that we wanted it to happen this way because there are a lot of 'priority schools' in our area."

Spence Jackson, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt, stressed that approval of the ballot title for petition gathering was a routine step administered by the office and did not indicate support or opposition to the measure.

In December, Blunt's office approved for circulation an initiative petition allowing customers of public utilities to generate electricity through alternative means, such as solar cells or windmills, and sell it to the utility.

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Associated Press correspondent Connie Farrow contributed to this report from Springfield.

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On the Net

Secretary of State: www.sos.mo.gov