|
Bruce
Votes for Gambling
State
Senator Terry Bruce, a Republican from
Hutchinson, vote in March to support
expanded gambling, and a lot of people
are not pleased that he did so. He says
he has gotten quite a bit of email since
then, and most of it has been those
against the expansion of gambling.
Within the 34th district, he says it is
about half and half.
He says that both the public and the
legislature are aware that there will be
expanded gambling in Kansas, and that
time has come. He also says that without
his vote of support, and that of Senator
Greta Goodwin, they may have negotiated
for a different agreement.
The way the bill sits now, Sumner County
will likely be eliminated from casino
site competition with Sedgwick County.
Reno, Kingman, Harvey, Cowley, Sumner,
and Butler Counties will all receive a
portion of the proceeds from Sedgwick
County. He says that Reno County is
projected to get somewhere around
$500,000 a year maximum.
However, his vote confused many because
only three weeks before he voted to
approve gambling, he told people that a
casino in Wichita would be a bad thing
for Reno County. Now he says he thinks
that it would be a good idea, and that
in the plan are many things that would
benefit them greatly. He says that Reno
will end up getting a lot of tourist
business as people will stop in their
town and see both their attractions and
their local businesses as they are on
their way to see the casino.
Those that don’t want the gambling
brought in say that the amount quoted –
up to $500,000 is not enough money to
bring in the problems and social costs
that a casino will bring in. They say
that in the grand scheme of things, half
a million dollars a year is “a pretty
trivial amount” compared to the amount
of gambling addiction that will be
coming in.
Back to Monthly
Archive //
Main Slot Machine News Index
 |