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Missouri casino funding initiative finds support29 July 2008JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board of Directors has announced its endorsement of the Schools First Initiative. The Initiative, slated for the November ballot, will protect over 12,000 jobs and provide more than $100 million in new funding for schools statewide by updating Missouri's outdated casino regulations. With its endorsement, the Missouri Chamber joins with other business groups and hundreds of Missouri teachers and community leaders in endorsing the Schools First Initiative. "Voting YES is important for our schools and for our economy," said Daniel P. Mehan, president and CEO of Missouri Chamber, which is the largest business organization in Missouri. "The Schools First Initiative will help us keep visitors, jobs and revenues here in Missouri." The state gaming tax paid by casinos currently generates nearly $300 million per year for schools. The Schools First Initiative will increase that tax to 21 percent -- adding $105 million to $130 million per year in new funding for elementary and secondary schools statewide. The Initiative also eliminates Missouri's outdated $500 loss limit, which doesn't exist in any other state. Removal of the loss limit will allow Missouri to compete for visitors on an equal basis with neighboring states and protect jobs at home. This is important because Missouri casinos are the fifth largest source of revenue to our state, contributing more than nearly all the approximately 60,000 corporations operating in Missouri. In addition to providing good jobs, the casinos draw 25 million visitors annually, purchase goods and services from thousands of local businesses, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity each year. If the loss limit is not eliminated, the Missouri Gaming Commission estimates that Missouri casinos will lose $180 to $200 million per year in revenues to the new casinos being built in Kansas alone. "The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry urges its members to support the Schools First Initiative," Mehan said. "Voter approval of this initiative is good for education and good for our economy." The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded in 1923 and is the largest business organization in Missouri, representing almost 3,000 employers, providing more than 425,000 jobs for Missourians. |