STATE ANXIOUSLY AWAITING RULING ON GAMBLING

JEFFERSON CITY - A decision on a legal challenge to Missouri's riverboat gambling law that was argued before the supreme court on Nov. 2, could be handed down on Tuesday.

The Missouri Supreme Court releases cases it has heard once a month. There is considerable speculation in the state capital that the high court will include that case in opinions released Tuesday.

Gov. Mel Carnahan has portrayed the suit as "a substantial legal challenge," and has pledged to take immediate action to address any legal problems the supreme court might find.

Roy Temple, deputy chief of staff to Carnahan, said the attorney general's office, which represented the state's position before the court, is anticipating a decision Tuesday.

Temple said he did not want to speculate on how the supreme court would rule, but promised the governor's office was poised to act quickly to deal with any problems so that the licensing of boats will not be delayed.

Said Temple: "We think the legal questions are close questions and there is a chance the supreme court could find constitutional defects. If they do, we think it will be narrow issues that will be addressed."

Temple said the impact a court decision would have on the current work of the state gaming commission depends on what the court finds.

The Missouri Gaming Commission has received at least 22 applications from gambling boat operators and is current conducting extensive background checks on four applicants. If all goes well, some boats could be licensed and operating this spring, with others later in the year.

Missouri's riverboat gambling law was approved in November of 1992 as a statewide referendum that changed state statutes. Legislation was also passed during the 1993 session to create a state gaming commission to oversee regulation and licensing of the boats and make other modifications in the law.

Last July, a Cole County circuit court rejected a lawsuit filed by Casino Queen, Inc., a floating casino in East St. Louis, Ill. and Troy Harris, a Missouri taxpayer, that challenged the constitutionality of the Missouri law. The decision was appealed to the supreme court.

One of the main issues in the case is whether Missouri should have adopted riverboat gambling as a constitutional amendment, rather than a statutory change.

Temple said based on what he has heard, a decision next week is "very likely."

Beth Ringer, from the attorney general's communications office, said the court does not say in advance what decisions will be released when.

"If anyone thinks a certain case will be released they are making an assumption that may or may not be true," said Ringer. "What is released is up to the discretion of the judges. It could very well come down on the 25th just because that is the next time opinions will be released, but there is no assurance."

Temple said he is hopeful that the work on the gaming commission could continue, even if the court finds problems in the law, so that once they are corrected boats could be licensed and start operating without delays.

For example, if the court were to rule that riverboat gambling should have been implemented as a constitutional amendment rather than as a statutory change, Temple said an effort would be made to get an amendment through the legislature as quickly as possible and submit it to a vote of the people.

"Hopefully the gaming commission could continue the process, but could not start operations until it was addressed by passage of a constitutional amendment," said Temple.

Gov. Carnahan has indicated that he believes a riverboat gambling amendment would have strong support from voters.

"We've prepared some contingencies just in case," said Temple. "We have had lawyers read briefs and determine how we might remedy some of the problems the court might find. I think we would be in position, within a few days, to have legislation proposed."

Mark Ausmus, general counsel for House Speaker Bob Griffin, said Thursday that legislative leaders will do whatever needs to be done.

"We have not discussed it yet because right now nobody has told us what they want to do," said Ausmus. "It would be hard to determine what we need to do until we see what happens with the court. But I think some preliminary steps have been taken."

When legislation was passed in 1991 sending riverboat gambling to voters as a statutory change rather than a constitutional amendment, Ausmus said lawmakers were advised by Ralph Kidd in legislative research, that "we could do the referendum rather than a constitutional amendment."

Ausmus recalled they were advised that casino gambling was not prohibited specifically in the constitution, while the lottery was. The lottery was implemented several years ago as a constitutional amendment.

Ausmus said he anticipates the governor's office will play a key role in addressing any issues raised by the supreme court because a portion of its proposed budget for Fiscal 1995 is funded with projected revenues from the floating casinos.

The budget being considered by the legislature projects $69.1 million in revenues from riverboat gambling through the rest of this year and in the next fiscal year. The budget allocates $48.2 million of those funds to priority maintenance and repair projects, primarily at institutions of higher education.

Proceeds from gambling also make up a significant portion of the funding for a new school foundation formula in Senate Bill 380, which was a major education initiative pushed by Carnahan in the last session. Beginning in Fiscal Year 1996, riverboat gambling proceeds will go into the funding formula.

Temple explained that legislation passed last year put a severability clause in the gambling law, which means that parts of the law could be determined unconstitutional by the court but it would not sink the entire act.

The next election where the issue could be re-submitted to voters, if necessary, is April 5. But the time frame to get something through the legislature for that election is very short. The next scheduled election is the Aug. 2 primary, though the governor has said he would be willing to call a special election in June to deal with the issue.