Good for education . . . or, maybe not
For years, some Missouri casinos have been pushing the Legislature to get rid of that quirky, only-in-the-nation remnant of this state’s riverboat gambling days: The $500-in-two-hours loss limit.
They never quite succeeded.
Now, the casinos are asking you, the voters, to get rid of it, and in exchange offering to pay higher taxes for schools.
That’s the crux of Proposition A, formerly the "Schools First Initiative," which would end the loss limit and card requirement at Missouri casinos, prevent any new gambling facilities from being built in the state and boost the tax on gambling revenue by 5 percent.
The loss limit was born as a compromise when Missouri legalized gambling in 1992 and has hung on stubbornly since, even as other states like Iowa have eliminated theirs. It’s a law that hurts no one, its supporters say, and helps protect problem gamblers from themselves. But casinos say the loss limit hurts them, and by extension the state, which taxes them heavily, because it makes Missouri casinos less competitive with facilities elsewhere. So they’ve targeted it time and again.
This push has the support of some education, civic and
business groups. But the muscle behind Proposition A has been two of the biggest gambling companies in the state — Ameristar Casinos and Pinnacle Entertainment — which have poured a combined $14 million into the effort, according to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
That has bought them yard signs, TV ads and a forest of billboards, urging people to vote "Yes on A. For our schools. For our economy."
But just how much money schools will get from the deal is in some dispute.
Proposition A backers say it will create between $105 million and $130 million in new school revenue, plus funding for veterans and childhood development programs and new tax revenue for the cities that house casinos.
Those numbers don’t include the new Lumi
Filed under: news by Fred