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Kansas Hired Gambling Consultant

KANSAS – As reported by the Lawrence Journal-World: "State officials have hired a leading gambling consultant to conduct a market research study on whether expanded gambling would be right for Kansas and how much money it could generate for the state.

"'It will give the governor an idea of what the market is,' Kansas Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten said. 'She is getting figures, depending on what faction is giving them, from $500 million to $1 billion.'

"An estimated $80,000 contract between the state and Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC is about to be finalized, pending routine background checks.

"…Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has supported expanded gambling as a way to increase revenues, but hasn't made a recommendation yet for the 2004 session. A gambling task force is expected to issue its final report soon.

"Tom Wright, chairman of that task force, said the market research study was an excellent idea because it would provide independent analysis.

"…The state also wants to know how much revenue would be generated by expanded gambling.

"The study would also look at the social impact of expanded gambling, such as increases in problem gamblers and loss of income to other businesses…"

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