Lawmaker wants ban on casino child care centers

Paul Sloca

Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state senator whose district is across the Missouri River from a riverboat casino under fire over its child-care center has filed legislation that would ban such facilities.

The bill filed Thursday by Sen. Steve Ehlmann, R-St. Charles, would ban riverboats from offering customers child care and would require employee child-care facilities to be licensed by the Missouri Department of Health.

A similar bill was filed by Rep. Charles Gross, R-St. Charles.

Ehlmann's Senate district is near the Riverport Casino Center in Maryland Heights, which was the focus of a St. Louis Post-Disptach report that the casino's Planet 4 Kidz child care facility had no state regulatory oversight and was not adhering to established state standards for child care.

Ehlmann, the Senate minority leader, said he is concerned about having children exposed to riverboats.

"They are obviously targeting single parents. And those kids with single parents have enough problems without their parents losing entire paychecks," Ehlmann said. "I don't think it's good for the kids."

Ehlmann's legislation was filed two days after the Missouri Gaming Commission voted to require the health department to license the Maryland Heights facility and Station Casino in Kansas City.

The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to give the casinos two months to meet Health Department guidelines that would also subject the facilities to state inspection.

New Horizons Kids Quest at Station Casino in Kansas City also was not licensed by the Health Department, but the commission had no reports of flawed service at the facility. Station also operates a state-licensed child care facility for employees.

Both facilities are operated by out-of-state contractors that operate casino child-care facilities in other states.

Other bills filed on gambling in Missouri included one that would abolish the $500 loss limit aboard riverboat casinos. The legislation was filed by Rep. May Scheve, D-Grantwood Village, who has filed similar legislation the last few years

Under current law, customers are limited to losses of $500 every two hours.

"By lifting the loss limit, we can make casinos competitive and also bring in a larger amount of revenue to the state that can be utilized by education," Scheve said.

While the Gaming Commission has supported dropping the loss limit, critics have charged such a move would increase problem gambling. Scheve, who is chairman of the Joint Committee on Gaming and Wagering, disagrees.

"I think that people who find themselves unfortunately addicted to gambling have other avenues to explore" including illegal gambling or traveling to states like Illinois which has no loss limit, Scheve said.

Earlier this year, the Gaming Commission authorized an open boarding pilot project for all Missouri casinos that removed a 45-minute gambling restriction on those boarding during a two-hour "cruise." The $500 loss limit was not affected by open boarding.

Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-St. Louis, also filed legislation that creates a fund designed to distribute gambling money for education on a per pupil basis. Currently, the bulk of the funding goes to rural and poorer school districts.

Last year, about $130 million in gambling revenues were distributed to Missouri schools.