A Kentucky House Committee Tuesday morning rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize casino gaming in the Bluegrass State by a vote of 5-3, with three members passing. The bill that was rejected was a modified one from the original proposed earlier by Gov. Steve Beshear, one that called for five of nine casino licenses going to racetracks; the original proposal called for licenses to go to seven racetracks from 12 total licenses.
House Democratic Whip Rob Wilkey told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the vote was a minor setback and said there was plenty of time left in the session to win approval of the amendment.
In a statement released later Tuesday, Beshear said, "The entire leadership of the House of Representatives has on numerous occasions publicly and privately committed to me to work in a unified manner in passing a Constitutional Amendment allowing the issue of limited expanded gaming to be placed on the ballot.
"Today’s actions, as well as inactions evidenced in the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, very clearly demonstrate that House leadership remains deeply divided. House Leadership should remember that more than 80% of Kentucky voters want the right to express themselves on this amendment. "Such a disagreement also seriously threatens the people’s right to decide for themselves whether or not they favor capturing the hundreds of millions of new dollars now being lost to other states. These are dollars that could be available to us for education, health care and other vital services. "I publically call on them to get their act together quickly. Only with their unified support will this amendment stand a chance of passage.”
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