In an 84-36 vote, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill that would lower the investment required from a southeast Kansas casino developer from 5 million to million. The measure also would lower the additional developer fee charged by the state from million to .5 million. The measure, which passed the Senate last week, now awaits the signature of Governor Sam Brownback, who has not said whether he’ll sign it.
State-owned casinos currently operate south of Wichita and in Dodge City and Kansas City, with the state and host county receiving a share of revenues. Kansas law also allows one more casino in the southeast portion of the state.
State Rep. Michael Houser, whose district includes the likely casino location, said, “This will be a job-maker and bring more businesses in.” His colleague state Rep. Virgil Peck, also from southeast Kansas, said, “If we want to increase social costs in southeast Kansas, you should vote for this.” Peck said even with the lower investment requirement, he doubted developers would be interested in competing against Oklahoma tribal casinos.
In 2008, Penn National Gaming ended a contract with the Kansas Lottery–which owns the rights to gambling but hires private developers to build and operate state-run casinos–due to competition from the Quapaw Tribe that had built a casino in Oklahoma with a parking lot just across the state line in Kansas.
