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A gaming bill put up by Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, has been moved to another the House Economic Development committee this week, a place where Menghini said she was told it was sent to die.
Menghini’s gaming bill, proposed last week, was designed to encourage more companies to enter bids for the Southeast Kansas Gaming Zone comprised by Crawford and Cherokee counties. The bill would lower the minimum investment levels, along with the initial investment levels, to match those of the Southwest Gaming Zone in Ford County.
Racetracks would also benefit from the bill, especially from a clause that would lower the percentage of slot machine revenues the tracks would have to pay back to the state.
But the bill was removed from the House Federal and State Affairs committee by Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, the committee chairman, and placed in the House Economic Development committee. When Menghini heard of the move, she said she asked the committee member whether the bill was sent there to die.
“Let’s just say we probably aren’t going to do anything with it,” Menghini said she was told.
Menghini then said the woman told her, “it wouldn’t be good for me to do anything with it.”
Attempts to reach Neufeld Thursday were not successful.
Menghini said she started looking for a solution after the closure of all three of the state’s major tracks, The Woodlands, Wichita Greyhound Park and The New Frontier at Camptown Greyhound Park. Two of those tracks belong to Ruffin Gaming, which shut down the tracks after complaining that the percentage of slot machine revenues due to the state was too high to be financially viable.
Phil Ruffin Jr., with Ruffin Gaming, said he saw the situation as a win-win, one that would help his business while creating 1,000 new jobs and new tax revenue for the state.
“If that bill were to pass, we would be very pleased,” Ruffin said. “But we keep hearing rumblings about ... the Speaker of the House, and how he doesn’t want to reopen Pandora’s Box.”
Neufeld served as House Speaker last session.
While Menghini said she was disappointed by Neufeld’s decision, she said she would find another avenue for her bill to be heard — as an amendment in the Kansas Senate. She said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, was working on a bill to clean up some of the language in the gaming statute, and offered Menghini a chance to tag on her bill as an amendment. She also said fellow legislator Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, said he would testify in favor of the bill.
“This is something that reaches across both chambers and across party lines,” Menghini said. “Since bringing it up, I’ve received interest, not just from the Ruffins or passing mention in the newspaper, but from the group that did Harrah’s back in the 1990s. They said if we could get the threshold lower, they would be interested in applying.
“All this is doing is helping to capture money that is leaving our state,” Menghini said. “We all know how tight everything is, and we could be bringing in a new revenue stream.”
Ruffin did say that Menghini’s bill didn’t fix issues with Wichita Greyhound Park. That track was closed after Sedgwick County voted against expanded gaming in the county. But Ruffin insisted that, if the legislature was to approve splitting the question into two parts — one asking about a destination casino, and the other asking about slot machines at the track — that the track portion would likely be approved.
“That’s what killed it in Wichita,” Ruffin said. “Everybody said, ‘Well, we don’t want casinos in our back yard.’ It’s been tough for us to digest.
“People need to realize that, in order for it to be financially viable, we would need the slots. Without the slots, it would just remain an empty building. We just want to expand both of our tracks. We would love the opportunity to reopen both tracks.”
Ruffin said he hoped the legislature would take a serious look at the bill.
“In this economic climate, we feel like we’re the kids in the back of the class with our hands up saying, ‘Hey, we have an idea,’” Ruffin said. “This would create a new tax structure to utilize, create more than 1,000 jobs, but nobody is listening. The mentality of our legislature is that this is a very controversial issue, and that some of them aren’t interested.
“It’s another wait-and-see situation, and it’s a long shot again,” Ruffin said. “But we have to rely on the process. This is how it has to work.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
A gaming bill put up by Rep. Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, has been moved to another the House Economic Development committee this week, a place where Menghini said she was told it was sent to die.
Menghini’s gaming bill, proposed last week, was designed to encourage more companies to enter bids for the Southeast Kansas Gaming Zone comprised by Crawford and Cherokee counties. The bill would lower the minimum investment levels, along with the initial investment levels, to match those of the Southwest Gaming Zone in Ford County.
Racetracks would also benefit from the bill, especially from a clause that would lower the percentage of slot machine revenues the tracks would have to pay back to the state.
But the bill was removed from the House Federal and State Affairs committee by Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, the committee chairman, and placed in the House Economic Development committee. When Menghini heard of the move, she said she asked the committee member whether the bill was sent there to die.
“Let’s just say we probably aren’t going to do anything with it,” Menghini said she was told.
Menghini then said the woman told her, “it wouldn’t be good for me to do anything with it.”
Attempts to reach Neufeld Thursday were not successful.
Menghini said she started looking for a solution after the closure of all three of the state’s major tracks, The Woodlands, Wichita Greyhound Park and The New Frontier at Camptown Greyhound Park. Two of those tracks belong to Ruffin Gaming, which shut down the tracks after complaining that the percentage of slot machine revenues due to the state was too high to be financially viable.
Phil Ruffin Jr., with Ruffin Gaming, said he saw the situation as a win-win, one that would help his business while creating 1,000 new jobs and new tax revenue for the state.
“If that bill were to pass, we would be very pleased,” Ruffin said. “But we keep hearing rumblings about ... the Speaker of the House, and how he doesn’t want to reopen Pandora’s Box.”
Neufeld served as House Speaker last session.
While Menghini said she was disappointed by Neufeld’s decision, she said she would find another avenue for her bill to be heard — as an amendment in the Kansas Senate. She said Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, was working on a bill to clean up some of the language in the gaming statute, and offered Menghini a chance to tag on her bill as an amendment. She also said fellow legislator Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, said he would testify in favor of the bill.
“This is something that reaches across both chambers and across party lines,” Menghini said. “Since bringing it up, I’ve received interest, not just from the Ruffins or passing mention in the newspaper, but from the group that did Harrah’s back in the 1990s. They said if we could get the threshold lower, they would be interested in applying.
“All this is doing is helping to capture money that is leaving our state,” Menghini said. “We all know how tight everything is, and we could be bringing in a new revenue stream.”
Ruffin did say that Menghini’s bill didn’t fix issues with Wichita Greyhound Park. That track was closed after Sedgwick County voted against expanded gaming in the county. But Ruffin insisted that, if the legislature was to approve splitting the question into two parts — one asking about a destination casino, and the other asking about slot machines at the track — that the track portion would likely be approved.
“That’s what killed it in Wichita,” Ruffin said. “Everybody said, ‘Well, we don’t want casinos in our back yard.’ It’s been tough for us to digest.
“People need to realize that, in order for it to be financially viable, we would need the slots. Without the slots, it would just remain an empty building. We just want to expand both of our tracks. We would love the opportunity to reopen both tracks.”
Ruffin said he hoped the legislature would take a serious look at the bill.
“In this economic climate, we feel like we’re the kids in the back of the class with our hands up saying, ‘Hey, we have an idea,’” Ruffin said. “This would create a new tax structure to utilize, create more than 1,000 jobs, but nobody is listening. The mentality of our legislature is that this is a very controversial issue, and that some of them aren’t interested.
“It’s another wait-and-see situation, and it’s a long shot again,” Ruffin said. “But we have to rely on the process. This is how it has to work.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
