Efforts under way to expand gambling in Kansas

Carl Manning

Monday, March 27, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

MAYETTA, Kan. -- The jingling sound of slot machines provides a melodic background sound for David Elliott, who drives every couple of weeks from Wichita to the Prairie Band Potawatomi reservation to try his luck.

Sometimes he wins. Sometimes he loses. But win or lose, he walks away happy.

"I just enjoy the excitement. I win once in a while, but I enjoy the excitement," Elliot said, seated in front of one of the 951 slots at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino.

In Topeka, lawmakers are considering a bill to allow slots at Wichita Greyhound Park, as well as the Woodlands in Kansas City and Camptown Greyhound Park near Pittsburg, subject to approval by voters in their home counties.

But the thought of slots closer to home does little to excite Elliott.

"We would vote it down," he said. "They couldn't put enough in there. There wouldn't be enough for all the people. Wichita is a big city, you know."

Prairie Band is one of four Indian casinos in northeast Kansas. The others are on the Sac and Fox, Kickapoo and Iowa reservations.

Patrick Browne, Prairie Band casino vice president and general manager, said of the legislation, "Clearly it would impact our business, but not to the level of shutting it down."

The legislative soundings at the Statehouse last week indicated Browne and the tribes don't have much to worry about.

Even supporters concede there's little chance of passing the bill, which is similar to one shot down by the Senate last year by a 2-to-1 margin.

"The hard reality is we don't have enough votes right now," said Sen. Mark Gilstrap, D-Kansas City, whose district includes The Woodlands.

Senate President Dick Bond argues the state hasn't allowed the pari-mutuel tracks to "compete in the marketplace of reality."

"There is Indian gaming, for which the state gets nothing. Kansans will be able to gamble with Palm Pilots and play blackjack in Las Vegas from Topeka, and that is reality," added Bond, R-Overland Park.

But even the powerful Senate president concedes it's not realistic to think that attitudes in his chamber have changed that much from last year.

The state constitution allows the Kansas Lottery, and the state Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that the term "lottery" is broad enough to include slots and other casino games. The bill would put the slots and other gambling machines under the Kansas Lottery at the race tracks.

Slots are attractive because they generate lots of the money. Some lawmakers think it would be good if the state could get its hands on some of the money, especially in a year when state revenues are running behind projections.

How much money is anybody's guess. Woodlands lobbyist Brad Smoot is pitching the notion of slots generating $260 million a year, with the state getting 20 percent.

But the idea of using gambling money to flesh out sagging revenues does little for Senate Ways and Means Chairman Dave Kerr, whose committee has a key role shaping state spending.

"I never succumb to the idea that we need to expand something we ordinarily wouldn't just because we need money," said Kerr, R-Hutchinson.

Another obstacle for the bill is the objections of senators who simply feel gambling is bad and more gambling is even worse.

"I think we've got enough gambling in the state without adding more," said Sen. Steve Morris, R-Hugoton.

Another opponent is Sen. Nick Jordan, R-Shawnee, who said, "It takes money out of the community. I'm not convinced that gambling is the tourism draw that it is supposed to be."

Another problem is timing. The bill was introduced two weeks ago -- in the waning weeks of the Legislature.

That's because those involved in forming the bill were at odds among themselves over what the bill should include, and even the final version lacks unanimous support.

At the Prairie Band casino, Frank Windholz of Hays is trying his luck a few slot machines down the line from Elliott. Windholz said if there were slots in Wichita, he'd probably go there -- but he also would continue coming to the tribal casino.

"It doesn't make any difference to me," he said.