With legislation on gaming back on the table in Topeka, some local officials want to make sure their voices are heard.
Crawford County Commissioner Linda Grilz, who also sits on the group TRAC-Southeast — the charitable arm of Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac — will be among three area officials planning on testifying in front of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee about expanded gaming on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, a pair of identical proposals were introduced — one in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee (SB 401) and the other in the House Appropriations Committee (HB 2516) — to revisit Senate Bill 66, the original bill that allowed for destination casinos in four zones and for slots at greyhound tracks.
“We are looking at this as an economic development approach and it will be something for all of southeast Kansas,” Grilz said.
Both bills lower the minimum investment for casino developers in the Southeast Gaming Zone from $225 million to $100 million as well as the fee required to bid on a casino project from $25 million to $11 million.
In addition, both bills reopen the possibility of allowing for slots at state greyhound parks like Camptown, the Woodlands (in Kansas City) and the Wichita Greyhound Park — all of which sit closed currently.
The provision lowers the state’s share of net slot revenues. Under the bills, track owners would get 58 percent.
Both measures also open the possibility of permitting slots at Anthony Downs in Harper County and Eureka Downs in Greenwood County — both of which were not allowed slots under the original 2007 bill.
Grilz said that by having bills introduced in both the House and the Senate, gaming might have a shot.
“Maybe we have a better chance of getting something accomplished,” Grilz said. “This way, perhaps we can get something discussed instead of having it buried.”
Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, had introduced a similar bill in the House when the session started, but House Republican leadership tagged the bill to the Economic Development Committee with no guarantee of it being heard.
Regardless, Grilz said that gaming will have advantages statewide as well as in southeast Kansas.
“We’ll get jobs, economic development and certainly a tax base,” Grilz said. “We need to get people to work and that is where the benefit is. We can even draw people in from outside southeast Kansas.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140
PITTSBURG —
