FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Steve Beshear says now's the time for Kentucky to act on approving expanded gambling, a day after Ohio voters approved casinos in four cities.
Beshear says Ohio residents are going to be reaping the benefits of thousands of new jobs and millions in new tax dollars. Beshear says the state "can't afford to wait any longer" on the issue, claiming it could lead to immediate economic benefits in Kentucky.
Kentucky already allows gambling on a state lotto, bingo and horse racing. But Beshear has been a staunch advocate of legalizing additional forms of gambling, such as video gambling machines at horse racing tracks.
A gambling measure cleared the Kentucky House earlier this year, before stalling in the state Senate.
mokoda said on November 5, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Really? And just how much benefit are we talking, and how much can the Governor quantify RIGHT NOW? I'd like to know exactly how many jobs are going to be created by putting gaming machines at horse tracks. How many people does it take to run them? It was promised that much of that lottery money would go to education, and Kentucky's education system still sucks wind 20 years later! I'm tired of being lied to so the state's fat cats can get fatter. So I say NO, until we have some realistic estimate of how much tax revenue is at stake. I say NO until we can get a solid estimate of how many jobs we're talking. I say NO unless the law includes unbrekable language that earmarks a significant portion of the profits to go directly to education. Throwing around terms like "thousands" and "millions" is meaningless. Lets have some REAL numbers.