LEGISLATURE WON'T PASS NEW GAMBLING BOAT VOTE

JEFFERSON CITY -- Legislation to send a constitutional amendment back to voters this year legalizing games of chance on riverboats apparently lacks the support in the House of Representatives to pass.

"There just doesn't appear to be a strong sentiment for bringing it back up," said House Majority Whip Larry Thomason, D-Kennett. "The bill could still be brought up, but there just aren't enough definitive votes to pass it."

Southeast Missouri legislators all agreed Wednesday that the measure was dead for the 1994 session, and that if it is to be considered by voters again this year, it will have to be put on the ballot by an initiative petition rather than legislative action.

"The speaker has not been able to get the numbers to pass it, and he won't bring it up for a defeat." said Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau.

Rep. Herb Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, who led the effort to enact riverboat gambling in the state, said that while he would like to see it go back to the people, this is not the kind of issue "to ask legislators to hang themselves out to dry on."

Fallert said he believes the amendment will pass if it's submitted to people in an election with a large turnout. But he said the proper way to go is through the petition process.

"I think the voters are out there," Fallert said. "It is just a matter of getting them out to the polls."

On April 5, Missouri voters rejected a constitutional amendment by just 1,267 votes that would have legalized games of chance, such as slot machines, on riverboat casinos. The amendment was necessary because the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the state referendum approved by voters in November 1992 only legalized riverboats with games of skill.

The court ruling, followed by the narrow defeat, has cast a giant shadow on the riverboat gambling industry in Missouri. Potential boat operators, cities, counties and developers have invested millions of dollars, and state revenues from gambling are being counted on to enhance funding for education.

On April 26, the House Ways and Means Committee voted out a bill sponsored by speaker Bob Griffin, D-Cameron, to send the issue back to voters. But so far, Griffin has been unable to line up the 82 votes needed for passage.

Some house members guessed Wednesday that Griffin could be 10 to 15 members short. There were other reports that lobbyists working for passage of the bill had gone home to begin planning a petition drive to put the issue on the November general election ballot.

Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid, said he heard Griffin might have 87 members leaning toward the bill. "But some of the votes are soft and might not stay there," he added.

Copeland said proponents of the amendment should forget the legislature. "They have the petition route they could go, and I think the people should take that route if they want it back on the ballot," he said.

There is some concern that without the opportunity to have games of chance like slot machines, gambling operators will lose interest in Missouri. Slots can account for half of a casino's profits.

The gaming commission is close to approving licenses for boats in St. Joseph, St. Charles, Kansas City and St. Louis. All four could be operating by late this month. Operators or owners of those boats have said they'll open without games of chance.

Fallert predicted riverboats won't operate indefinitely without games of chance.

Griffin has offered an amendment to a Senate bill that could increase the number of games offered on riverboats. The Supreme Court held that games like blackjack and poker were games of skill and could be played, but it sent back to Cole County Circuit Court the issue of whether other games could be called games of skill.

Under Griffin's amendment, many of the games sent back to the court would be defined by law as games of skill.

By specifying the games of skill in the legislature, Griffin believes the commission could authorize those games on the riverboats.

Copeland said he hopes some version of Griffin's amendment passes, because he prefers games of skill be defined by the legislature rather than the courts.

But Rep. Mark Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, strongly disagreed. He said the court should define games of skill after a proper hearing.

Richardson said any attempt to define games legislatively is "an attempt to circumvent the constitution by defining in the statutes games of chance as games of skill.

"Literally, it is no different than deciding you want a pig to be a horse so you call a pig a horse," Richardson said. "But regardless of what you call the pig, it is still a pig. You can call games of chance games of skill, but they are still games of chance."

Richardson predicted if the legislation passed, it would be challenged and ultimately decided in court.

"The Supreme Court laid out the issue and remanded it to the trial court," he said. "We should let them decide the issue."

Richardson said lawmakers should not forget that 103 of Missouri's 114 counties voted against Amendment 3. He said the strong rejection is the reason many House members are reluctant to send the issue back to voters.

Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, who opposed the constitutional amendment earlier this year, said he has talked to a number of colleagues who voted for the amendment the first time, but who want no part of doing so again.

On other occasions when riverboat gambling was considered in the legislature, Schwab said he got a few calls and letters in opposition.

"But this time I've gotten many more calls than I have about previous issues," said Schwab. "I would say I have gotten three or four times the calls."

Rep. Marilyn Williams, D-Dudley, said the last two times riverboat gambling came up during her tenure, she heard little from constituents.

"But now I'm hearing from all kinds of people who are opposed," Williams said. "Many of them are just normal citizens."

Kasten termed riverboat gambling "a very volatile issue," and said she has gotten calls from people on both sides of the issue. She voted for sending the constitutional amendment to voters earlier this year.