Amendment to be filed that allows only slots at tracks

The Lexington Herald Leader website is reporting Thursday afternoon that an amendment to the casino bill in Kentucky that is scheduled to be voted on in the full House will be filed before the end of the day which would allow only slots at racetracks and not provide for full-blown casinos.

Democratic State Rep. Greg Stumbo told the newspaper he believes casinos would be the death-knell of the state’s smaller racetracks. Stumbo—who is the state representative from Prestonsburg, the home of Thunder Ridge—said he informed Democratic House Speaker Jody Richards—who is a main force behind the bill currently being discussed that allows up to nine casinos in the state and up to five at racetracks, although those licenses are not guaranteed—and that he was told to go ahead with his plan.

“The Speaker told me to proceed. I don’t know if that was a blessing or a ‘see-you-next-week in church,'” Stumbo told the Herald Leader, although Richards later was quoted as saying as the amendment "might complicate things" and that he would only support it if the committee that drafted the current bill gave it its backing.

Reports on Wednesday stated that Democratic leaders were in the process of counting votes in the House to see if they had the 60 “yes” votes of the 99 members required for passage. The bill would then need 23 “yes” votes in the 38-member Senate for passage. Current reports state that the bill would fall short of passage in the House, thus delaying a possible vote this week until at the earliest next week.

“In my view, it’s the only way to save the casino gambling amendment,” added Stumbo.

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