Kentucky Casinos Clear First Hurdle
Casinos could be built in Kentucky under a proposed constitutional amendment that cleared its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday after being modified to appease reluctant lawmakers.
The Senate State and Local Government Committee voted 7-4 to send the initiative to the full Senate for consideration. If it passes there, it would then go to the House.
Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown, a horse industry consultant who is sponsoring the legislation, made some last minute changes so that the proposal no longer requires up to five of the proposed casinos to be built at race tracks. New language allows up to seven casinos in the state with no assurance that they would be built at horse tracks.
“I believe an issue of this importance should be put on the ballot to let the people vote in November,” Thayer said.
The measure, expected to undergo further changes, could get a vote on the Senate within days. Many lawmakers remained uneasy Wednesday that the proposal allows no casino within 60 miles of a horse track, unless it’s located at the horse track.
That provision could be amended on the Senate floor.
