Kentucky governor says casino measure ‘dead’

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A beleaguered proposal to legalize casinos in Kentucky will not pass in the current legislative session, Gov. Steve Beshear said Thursday.

"For this session, it is dead," Beshear told reporters at an impromptu press conference outside his Capitol office.

The Democratic governor had pushed for a constitutional amendment to legalize casinos. He said allowing casinos to open, then taxing them, could have generated up to $600 million a year in much needed state revenue.

Although Kentucky has a long tradition of wagering at horse tracks, the state constitution specifically forbids casinos.

If lawmakers had agreed to amend the constitution to allow casinos, voters would have had a chance to ratify or reject the proposal in a ballot referendum.

Beshear made the announcement after a brief meeting with leading Democratic lawmakers late Thursday.

"We agree that we do not have the votes necessary to pass the gaming amendment in the House, and we see no prospect of getting that number of votes with the little time remaining," Beshear said.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, vowed the fight for casinos isn't over.

"Certainly, we will come back in the future and try to get the votes," he said.

John-Mark Hack, head of the antigambling group Say No To Casinos, said Beshear and lawmakers wasted time and effort pushing the casino measure, even though it has been clear for weeks that the proposal stood no chance of passing.

"The governor admitted the obvious," Hack said. "There's no cause for celebration because the tragedy is we've lost an opportunity to address very important issues that our state faces."

Beshear had argued that casinos could help stave off a projected $900 million financial shortfall that threatens to cause severe cuts in government services.

Beshear said Monday he would make one final push to get House lawmakers to approve the casino measure, which needed at least 60 votes before it could be sent to the Senate for consideration.

Dave Adkisson, head of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, appeared with Beshear to encourage lawmakers to act. Adkisson said Kentucky residents already are spending more than $1 billion a year at casinos in neighboring states of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and West Virginia.

"I'm surprised but thankful that it didn't pass," said state Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, a Baptist pastor. "It would have hurt a lot of families that are struggling with financial problems and looking for a quick fix."

Because of that, Riner said, lawmakers weren't willing to open the state to casinos.

"I think gambling brings with it many of the social problems that in the end are going to cost us much more in terms of lives destroyed, families destroyed."