Governor still touting Senate gambling plan, not compacts

John Hanna

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 9:05 a.m.

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius continued to argue Monday that two American Indian gambling compacts won't provide revenue for schools quickly enough, and an aide noted that a legislative leader pushing the agreements blocked a vote on one last year.

The proposed compacts, allowing tribes to build casinos in Wyandotte and Cherokee counties, are an issue because the Senate rejected a bill last week to authorize non-Indian casinos and permit slot machines at dog and horse racing tracks.

Legislators were in the sixth day of a special session called by Sebelius to answer a Kansas Supreme Court mandate to provide more money to public schools. The governor advocates expanding gambling to support increased education spending.

In a letter to legislative leaders made public Monday, Sebelius wrote that the tribes sought access to the state's most lucrative gambling markets, with the state shutting out significant competition.

"It is not in the best interest of Kansas," Sebelius wrote.

One compact would permit the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox tribes to build a $210 million hotel-and-casino complex near Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County. Sebelius submitted a version to legislators last year, but their leaders did not vote on it.

The other compact would allow the Kickapoo, Sac and Fox and Prairie Band Potawatomi to build a $200 million complex south of Galena in Cherokee County. The three tribes have asked Sebelius to negotiate a deal, but talks have not started.

The tribes estimate the state would receive between $75 million and $100 million in casino revenue each year. In exchange, the state would limit other new gambling to 600 slots machines each at the Woodlands dog and horse racing park in Kansas City and the now-closed Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac.

The limits on other new gambling appeal to legislators who oppose an expansion of gambling but worry they can't prevent it indefinitely.

On Sunday House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said Sebelius was obstructing the compacts' passage by refusing to submit them to lawmakers during the special session.

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran noted that Mays prevented legislative leaders from voting on the Wyandotte County compact in November, when lawmakers were out of session.

But Mays replied: "All I said in November was that they needed to come before the full Legislature. The Legislature's here, so let's do it."

The U.S. Interior Department must approve the tribal casino sites, which could take 18 months or more, Corcoran said.

"The tribes have said themselves it would take two years for construction," Corcoran said. "Do the math -- that's more than three years."

Doug Lawrence, a non-tribal gambling lobbyist, said it's doubtful the Interior Department would approve off-reservation casinos, following its rejection in May of a proposal in Oregon.

However, Whitney Damron, a lobbyist for the Kickapoo and Sac and Fox, said they've repeatedly put the length of construction at a year, with crews working around the clock.

As for federal officials' review, Damron said the tribes believe the process will be significantly shorter than predicted, based on conversations with the officials.

"We don't think it's going into the 'in' basket and sitting there," Damron said. "We think we'll have the ability to move it along."