NEWS
Kentucky Senate does not pass Williams’ VLT bill
Posted: Friday, January 22, 2010 11:33 AM
by Frank Angst
Kentucky racetracks would not need approval from voters to add video lottery terminals, assuming state legislators approve such an expansion of gaming at the current session.
Republican State Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville) last year opposed a House bill that would have allowed tracks to add the machines. The bill never reached the Senate floor.
This year, Williams had sponsored a bill that effectively would have taken the issue out of state lawmakers’ hands by requiring state voters to approve any gambling expansion in Kentucky, but Williams’s bill fell short of approval on Thursday.
In voting along party lines, Williams’s Senate Bill 2 received a majority of votes at 21-16 but failed to pass because 23 votes were required to reach the three-fifths standard for a constitutional amendment.
The horse industry had opposed the Williams bill because it would have added an additional step before tracks could add VLTs. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway ruled last year that state lawmakers could approve adding VLTs without voter approval.
A Senate bill proposed this year would place the VLTs at racetracks and commit some of the revenue to horse racing. Money collected on taxes and fees would be placed in the state’s general fund as opposed to being targeted to any specific area. Last year’s House bill committed VLT money to rebuilding schools.
Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior staff writer
