Gamblers denied Jeff City, but loss limit may fall

By Allen Palmeri

Associate Editor

JEFFERSON CITY—State Rep. Brian Baker, R-Belton and an assistant pastor of First Baptist Church of Belton, is encouraged by the action of Jefferson City’s citizens to reject two pro-riverboat casino gambling propositions April 8 by 62-38 percent margins.

“Gambling was sold to us as a bill of goods,” Baker said. “You said it was going to solve our education problems and it doesn’t generate a whole lot for education. What it does generate has been controversial. You said you were going to keep these boats on rivers, but you’ve not. You’ve put them in moats off the rivers and we changed the law to fix that.

“Everything that happens in the casino industry is just a little bit different than what we really got sold, and I think the public has said, ‘Enough’s enough. We’re tired of this. This is getting ridiculous.’”

Now Baker is part of an effort in the Missouri General Assembly to retain the $500 loss limit per two hours clause in Missouri law that is once again under attack. Kerry Messer, lobbyist for the Christian Life Commission (CLC) of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), said most state representatives and senators “most likely” would vote to remove the loss limit if the opportunity ever presented itself. The topic seems to come up every April and May at the State Capitol, with the gambling industry being denied what it wants, and the prospect of the law changing in the 2008 political climate is a very serious one, Messer said.

“Support for maintaining standards is definitely waning,” he said.

House Bill 1929, sponsored by Rep. Shannon Cooper, R-Clinton, would place a moratorium on the issuance of any new excursion gambling boat license before Jan. 1, 2010. It is “one of a few bills” to watch, Messer said. A third read on the bill could occur the week of April 14-18.

“It’s right on the precipice of passing the House, and it’s a very, very credible threat to ultimate passage,” Messer said.

Baker has heard the talk that Cooper’s bill, should it make it to the Senate, could be a way for casino industry lobbyists to finally succeed in their relentless quest to attach an amendment to a bill for the purpose of removing the loss limit.

“I know that there are people that have looked at that bill and have said that might be an avenue to which we can remove the loss limit,” Baker said. “I’ve never heard him say that, but I’ve heard advocates for the removal of the loss limit, for the casino industry, say this could be an avenue.”

Baker has a bill, HB 2420, that would prohibit the Missouri Gaming Commission from issuing any new license to operate gambling boats before Aug. 28, 2011. He said it is a clean bill that cannot be hijacked by pro-gambling interests and turned into a repeal-the-loss-limit vehicle, simply because he, as the sponsor, would pull the bill if that ever happened.

“It definitely stops the expansion of the gambling industry, and my goal also is to make sure that we don’t remove the loss limit,” Baker said.

Messer can’t help but notice that Baker’s bill is not moving in the House. The bills that are moving, along with many of those that still have a chance to move, are ones that could wind up producing what pro-gambling lobbyists continue to strive for—a major expansion of their industry in terms of money being wagered and lost in Missouri.

“When riverboat gambling was initially adopted in Missouri, it was adopted with a prompt from the casino industry that there would be loss limits maintained,” Messer said. “After the fact, citizens found out that the loss limit only applied to a two-hour period of time, and every two hours that loss limit was renewed. Ever since that time, the casino industry has lobbied the Legislature to completely eliminate what loss limit we have – $6,000 a day. The industry has been hiring more and more lobbyists and putting more and more money into political campaigns, buying influence, trying to sway and buy influence into the Gaming Commission, and they have built more and more and more support with each election cycle.”

Finding a state lawmaker like Baker, who opposes gambling on moral grounds and votes accordingly, is getting more and more difficult in the State Capitol. This is his last term in Jefferson City, and after the session comes to an end May 16 he will cleave to his ecclesiastical calling as minister of education and missions for First Belton, headmaster of Heartland High School & Academy, and vice chairman of the CLC.

His advice to Missouri Baptists on the loss limit matter is simple.

“Don’t rest,” he said. “This is an issue that has come up every year I’ve been in office, and one thing that tends to happen is conservative Christians who stand for family values win a battle and they tend to say, ‘We won, now let’s move on.’

“We need to make sure that we don’t have to take the same ground twice. We need to maintain a sense of direction and moving forward to battle these things because they will not go away. It’s sort of that pray without ceasing ideal that we must continue to do. We have to be vigilant.”

CLC Chairman Phil Gloyer, a layman from Forest Park Baptist Church in Joplin, is hoping that the message sent by Jefferson City voters to their assorted pro-gambling city council members on April 8 will be heard and heeded by state lawmakers in the final 30 days of the 2008 Legislature.

“I want to commend the citizens of Jefferson City for their wisdom and foresight in rejecting the attempts of the gambling industry to infiltrate their community,” Gloyer said. “The convincing margin by which the two measures and their proponents were defeated should be a strong signal to Missouri’s legislators that our state is beginning to recognize that gambling is a get-rich-quick scheme for casino owners that brings nothing of value to our communities.

“Legislators and other public servants who side with gambling interests over the financial health and welfare of Missouri’s citizens should be careful to remember that campaign contributions cannot repair a breach of trust, nor restore a loss of faith. It should also be clear to our state representatives and senators that legislation seeking to remove the $500 loss limit on gambling excursions should be quickly rejected, and that legislation preventing the Gaming Commission from issuing any additional licenses should be passed without hesitation.”