GAMBLING OFFICIAL: NO BOATS ON CHANNEL

Under Missouri's gambling law, riverboat casinos can't float the Diversion Channel, an official with the Missouri Gaming Commission said Saturday.

"It's got to be on the Missouri or Mississippi River -- period. There is no other place it can be," said Tom Irwin, executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission.

The wording of the legislation is clear, he said in response to a question about Lady Luck's proposal to dock a riverboat on the diversion channel at Scott City.

Irwin spoke to members of the Southeast Missouri Press Association Saturday.

Lady Luck has acknowledged that gambling boats are limited to the Mississippi and Missouri River but plans to seek a declaratory judgment on the law in hopes that the Diversion Channel be classified as part of the river itself.

Lady Luck's $63.2 million bid was approved by Scott City officials last week.

The gambling company originally proposed a site at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port, but at a special city council meeting changed its plan and said the company will apply for a license for a boat docking site on the Diversion Channel just east of Rhodes Travel Center. The site is two-and-one-half miles west of the Mississippi.

Irwin said the gaming commission is in the process of investigating 23 applicants for gambling licenses. The first four were deemed suitable last week, meaning the companies and key players passed a key background check.

Another four companies will be selected within weeks to undergo scrutiny.

Irwin said he doesn't know which four companies are next in line.

"The first four were easy. They were the four with boats," he said. "Now they almost all have boats under construction."

A state economist is reviewing the remaining applications. The next four to be reviewed will be determined based on economic and geographic impact.

Irwin said all the applicants have decided to go ahead with the only two approved games of skill -- black jack and poker.

A judge has been asked to determine if video poker is a game of skill or chance. Missouri law prohibits games of chance.

The change means money from gambling will be cut drastically.

State Rep. Mary Kasten said the state had anticipated $69 million in gambling money for education. Now, it looks like the state will net about $12.5 million. Kasten said money planned for maintenance and buildings will be cut in half.

Kasten was among legislators who spoke at a round table Saturday. Others on the panel were sen. Peter Kinder and Reps. Jim Graham and David Schwab.

Irwin said, "Slot machines can mean 60, 70, 80 percent of total revenue. The state tax is not renegotiable -- it remains 18 percent."

Kinder said he doesn't believe enough votes can be rounded up before the end of the legislative session to put the gambling measure back on the ballot. He added that putting it back on the ballot just weeks after voters turned it down might not be a wise move.

The legislators also discussed health care reform, campaign finance reform, crime control and fiber optics.

"We seem to see the word reform a lot," said Graham, of Fredericktown. "It usually means more government and more spending. Especially now, when corporations are downsizing, I don't think government should be growing."

"I marveled at how governement is trying to take care of you," Schwab said.

Kasten added, "The people I talk to are tired of taxes, sick of regulation and resent intrusion by government."

She said too often government tries to put teeth in a bill, but not "wisdom teeth."