Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1994)

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Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 26, Aug 1994

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 27, Aug 1994

RIVERBOAT GAMING LEGISLATION UPDATE

Riverboat gaming legislation is being monitored by gaming boat owners and operators today more closely than ever. The reason is simple: both Missouri and Indiana, states which had already passed legislation permitting gaming ves- sels, are embroiled in legal battles which are indefinitely prohibiting, or severely limiting, riverboat gam- ing.

Thus the companies which pur- chase the boats and develop the waterfronts are not so quick to pour millions of dollars into a project based on speculation.

The Transportation Institute is- sues a regular report which details — both federally and state-by-state — the past, current and pending legislation which will shape the riverboat gaming industry. The fol- lowing information is excerpted from a recent issue. For information on ordering the report from the Trans- portation Institute, please contact:

Larry Evans, 5201 Auth Way,

Camp Springs, Md. 20746; tel: (301) 423-3335; tel: (202) 347-2590; or fax: (301) 423-0634.

DISTRICT

OF COLUMBIA

The District of Columbia's Board of Elections permitted supporters of riverboat gaming to gather signa- tures from voters on a petition that would put riverboat gaming on the ballot this September. The D.C.

Committee for Riverboat Gambling was to gather five percent or 16,500 signatures by June 15 for the mea- sure to be on the September ballot, or by August 10 for the measure to be on the November 1994 ballot.

Despite objections from oppo- nents — who contend the amend- ment is imprecise because it does not specify the number of boats or whether they will be dockside or cruising — the D.C. Board of Elec- tions and Ethics said the proposal is appropriate for the ballot.

FLORIDA

Pro-gaming groups, at last re- port, were trying to get petitions signed by August 9th in order to have their gaming issue put on a

November ballot. Safe Bet for

Florida Committee, a state-regis- tered political action committee, is reportedly interested in limited-ac- cess riverboat gaming. The group's ballot specifies an amendment which would allow up to 21 riverboat casi- nos around Florida, with a maxi- mum of four per county, all subject to county and local vote. Carnival

Hotel and Casinos is a supporter, and the Intracoastal Waterway,

Florida Bay and St. John's River are among likely sites considered to at- tract riverboats.

S.B. 3038, sponsored by Sen.

Gutman and titled the Water Ves- sel Gaming Act, would have permit- ted vessel gaming in counties that approved it. The measure, intro- duced March 16, died April 15.

IOWA to 250, among other things.

MICHIGAN

Riverboat gaming is to be placed on Detroit's August 1994 ballot, al- though no language for it has been drafted to date.

MISSOURI

The vote to amend the Missouri constitution to allow slot machines on riverboats failed by less than one percent. And though the future of riverboat gaming is uncertain, and owner/operator confidence is shaken, the battle has not yet ended.

There will be another vote, most likely in August.

The concept for the amendment originated when the Missouri State

Supreme Court overturned the Cole

County Circuit judge's dismissal of a case heard in July 1993 on the constitutionality of riverboat gam- ing in the state.

The 22 applications submitted to the Missouri Riverboat Gaming

Commission have been revised to accommodate limited riverboat gam- ing. The Gaming Commission has continued to review applications regardless of the outcome of the constitutional amendment.

NEW YORK

Plans for six riverboat casinos were proposed to the New York City

Council. Council Finance Chair- man Herbert Berman thought the casinos could bring in $200 million a year in fresh taxes. S.B. 6592, intro- duced by Senator Nicholas A.

Spano, proposes an amendment to the constitution concerning casino gaming in the Catskill region, ves- sels navigating in state waters and waterways, and certain gaming at horse racing tracks and simulcast theaters. It would allow gaming to be authorized upon public vessels being navigated upon state waters and waterways as may be autho- rized and prescribed by the legisla- ture, but only if approved in a county referendum in the county in which persons may board the vessel.

TENNESSEE

Gaming legislation, S.B. 2450 (the

Tennessee Gaming Control Act), died in the Senate State and Local

Government Committee on April 21, the final day of the 1994 legislative session.