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Missouri Gambling Debate Still Continues

ST. LOUIS, Missouri – As reported by the Associated Press: "…Ten years ago on Thursday, the Admiral and the Station Casino in St. Charles debuted as the state's first two riverboat casinos. Missouri gaming sites now number 11, with more likely.

"The passage of time hasn't softened the debate.

"A statewide casino trade group says the gaming riverboats are among the state's chief taxpayers and employers, with more than 10,000 workers - 86 percent of them Missourians - earning $310 million a year in wages, tips and benefits.

"The Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association says the more than $286 million in gaming taxes and admission fees paid to the state in fiscal 2003 alone is nearly double what the 60,000 other Missouri corporations combined paid on business profits and assets.

"…Anti-casino forces have found little to revel in, believing gambling addictions have risen sharply since Missouri's casinos first arrived. And they say repealing the $500 loss limit - something the casinos have lobbied for - would just worsen things.

"Gambling opponents call that limit needed to help protect compulsive gamblers and others from huge losses. And, they say, the limit was part of the deal when voters approved gambling in 1992.

"…Today, some casinos have seen better times, including the President, whose corporate parent is bankrupt. Still, the push for Missouri casino expansion presses on.

"…Unbound by the votes of the local selection panels, the state gaming commission is weighing six casino proposals for the St. Louis market…"

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