Kentucky
Slot Machine Bill Dies
/ASSOCIATED
PRESS/ - FRANKFORT, KY - A proposal to open slot machine casinos
at Kentucky horse tracks has quietly died, but proponents vow to
try again.
The legislation the first time the idea of expanding gambling
at race tracks was offered in a proposed bill was sent April
1 to sit in committee for the rest of the legislative session.
"I think
it's probably at the funeral home right now," said House Speaker
Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville, one of the prime supporters of
expanded gambling.
However, David
Switzer, director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, said
there's no death knell.
"We'll
be back. There's no question about that. There is still a possibility
of a special session and of course, we have 2003," Switzer
said on April 2, the last day of the regular session.
The bill would
allow eight currently licensed race tracks to open slot machine
casinos. A second version would have placed the casinos under the
supervision of the Kentucky Lottery Corp.
Though horse
industry interests supported the proposal, which was introduced
in February, opponents criticized the secrecy that surrounded negotiations
creating the bill. They also pointed out a new gambling control
board would be exempt from many open records and meetings laws.
Race tracks
in Kentucky, including fabled Churchill
Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, have reported fewer patrons,
less betting and a scarcity of horses to fill race cards.
Proponents of
the legislation argued that the problem was competition from the
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