The last effort this year to eliminate the casino loss limit in Missouri has been stopped despite fears of devastation in the gambling industry.
St. Joseph Senator Charlie Shields says things have changed since he first brought up his bill this year and ran into a filibuster. Since then, Kansas has legalized casino gambling, and hundreds of slot machines will be going in at the Woodlands dog track just across the state line from Kansas City and a casino will be built in that area soon. He sees western Missouri casinos losing tens of millions of dollars. He says Kansas City-area casinos will likely lose $181-milliion to $210-million because of the actions by the state of Kansas. He says boarding fees also will be lost as will local docking fees. Shields says the elimination of the loss limit will keep casinos in the area alive—but not by much, says Harrisonville’s Chris Koster who says failure of the legislature to pass the bill will force western Missouri casinos to "hemorrhage." .
But Shields was unable to convince fellow Senators the situation is as desperate as he says it is. He threw in the towel late last night and says it will be difficult to bring the bill back to the floor in the face of determined opposition.
The bill is SS#2/SCS/SB430