ORGANIZATION URGES MISSOURI TO SCRAP GAMBLING LOSS LIMIT

Missouri is losing revenue and gamblers to other states because of a $500 loss limit on riverboat casinos, the director of the Gaming Partnership for Education said Thursday.

"Gaming taxes have become an important source of new funding for Missouri schools," said the director, Marjorie Beenders. But "the gaming product is not competitive with our neighboring states," Beenders said.

The Missouri Constitution requires that all revenue from gambling be used solely for public elementary, secondary and higher education, she said.

"Gaming taxes through June 30 of this year will have generated more than $300 million for Missouri education since 1994," said Beenders, who left her job as Missouri Tourism director to work for the partnership.

She said that in fiscal 1996, gambling taxes provided more than 40 percent of new funding for the school foundation formula. In fiscal 1997, more than half of the new formula funding will come from gambling taxes, or about $84 million of the total $160 million.

Beenders said the Missouri Legislature could solve the dilemma.

There are two bills in the Legislature to do away with the limit, she said, referring to House Bill 555 and Senate Bill 344.

"Both bills are still in committee," she said. "We're still hopeful that the limit can be eliminated this session."

About six weeks are left in the session.

A recent survey of casino parking lots at Alton and East St. Louis, Ill., revealed that 62 percent of the vehicles had Missouri license plates.

"Of more than 25 states now offering casino gambling, Missouri is the only state with a loss limit," said Beenders. "As a result, Missouri is at a significant disadvantage with the nearby states of Illinois, Iowa and Kansas."

Eliminating the loss limit could boost attendance at Missouri casinos and generate as much as $40 million more, she said.

Loss limits would be a laudable requirement if they worked, said Beenders. But mental-health professionals around the nation say that loss limits do not prevent problem gambling, she said.

Beenders said it boils down to economics. The Missouri gambling industry will have put more than $1.5 billion into capital investment by June 30, and a large amount of that has been used for high-paying construction jobs, she said.

Within three years, gambling companies have created as many as 14,000 permanent jobs, she said.

When Iowa started riverboat gambling in 1991, the state had loss limits and cruise times. When Iowa repealed its loss limit rule in 1994, attendance at their riverboats increased by 86 percent, she said.

One of the big reasons that people pass on Missouri casinos is the hassle of obtaining gambling tokens and cruise tickets, she said.

"There's a lot of standing in line," said Beenders. "It's time to allow Missouri's gaming patrons to enjoy their entertainment dollars without arbitrary government limits, and let Missouri education win."