Published: November 08, 2007 07:03 am         

Gov.-elect Steve Beshear meets with legislators

:Beshear says his victory shows voters want to decide casino issue

FRANKFORT — Gov.-elect Steve Beshear said Wednesday that his lopsided victory was a clear signal that Kentuckians want to decide the fate of casino gambling.

"Whether they are for it or against it, the overwhelming majority of people do want to vote on it," Beshear told reporters in touting one of his signature campaign issues. "I hope that was a very clear message that folks will notice."

Now the job of winning over lawmakers begins for Kentucky's next governor.

Beshear piled up votes in urban and rural counties alike Tuesday in defeating Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Tuesday. The campaign provided a clear difference between the candidates on whether casino gambling should be legalized.

Beshear, a former attorney general and lieutenant governor, turned his attention Wednesday to putting together his administration as he prepares for his inauguration next month. He said he'll start announcing his choice for top jobs as soon as Thursday and hopes to have his cabinet in place by the time he takes office.

"This government is going to be diverse, it's going to reflect experience," he said.

Beshear also started reaching out Wednesday to legislators who will weigh in on his initiatives, which range from casino gambling to education and health care.

Beshear said he intended to move the state forward with or without casino gambling. He said his jobs-creation plan would generate more tax revenues, and that his efficiency study of state government would result in considerable savings.

The governor-elect spoke with House and Senate leaders and pledged to work with both parties to improve the quality of life in Kentucky.

"I know we will have our differences," said Beshear, who received a standing ovation as he entered the committee hearing room in the Capitol Annex.

"I know that partisan politics will always play a role. That is our system. But we ought not to let it play too much of a role."

Earlier in the day, Beshear said his discussions with lawmakers heading into the 2008 legislative session will include casino gambling.

Beshear supports amending Kentucky's constitution to allow a limited number of casinos at racetracks and at off-track sites along the state's borders. He estimates the extra gambling would generate about $500 million in additional state tax revenue each year for such priorities as health care and education.

Even though amending the constitution to allow casinos would require a referendum on a future ballot, Fletcher campaigned on a "no casinos" theme, warning they would drain money from businesses and would lead to such social ills as more divorce, bankruptcies and crime.

Newspaper polls in September showed an overwhelming majority of Kentuckians want to vote on the casino gambling issue but are divided on whether to legalize casinos.

Proposals to put the casino gambling issue on the ballot have been floated in previous years in the General Assembly but died after making little or no headway.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, indicated the odds may have changed, noting the polls and the size of Beshear's victory.

"Certainly it has a better chance than it's ever had in the House," he said.

Richards said Beshear even carried some Republican-leaning counties.

"There's a common thread through that somewhere, and it may be gaming," he said.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said Beshear was "saying the right things" to lawmakers on Wednesday, although they would likely have differences along the way. Nevertheless, he still would not vote in favor of a plan to legalize casino gambling, Williams said.

"I'm not going to vote for a bill that will put the casino gambling issue on the ballot," Williams said.

State Rep. Larry Clark, a casino gambling proponent, said Beshear's margin of victory "gives him more strength trying to push that legislation through."

Beshear won with 59 percent of the vote.

Clark said he's tired of seeing Kentuckians flocking across the border to gamble in neighboring states like Indiana and Illinois. "It's just transferring wealth from one state to the other," he said.

Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville, said he would consider voting to put a proposed casino gambling constitutional amendment on the ballot. Seum declined to discuss the chances that it would get a vote in the Republican-led Senate.

He said GOP senators will discuss the issue in coming weeks.

"We'll see if there's been any change," he said.

Sen. David Boswell, D-Owensboro, said Wednesday he was prefiling a casino gambling constitutional amendment for the legislative session that convenes in January.

Boswell said a companion proposal calls for a total of nine casinos — five at racetracks and four off-track. The measure would funnel state gambling revenue to such things as education, veterans programs and infrastructure projects like water and sewer lines.

The magnitude of Beshear's election victory led at least one lawmaker to rethink his position.

Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, said that before the election he was inclined to vote against putting a casino gambling referendum on the ballot. Now he's leaning toward letting it on the ballot, though he reserved judgment until seeing a final version.

Beshear ran strongly in Cherry's conservative district in western Kentucky, which Cherry said "puts a little different light on the situation."

"I think we got a clear mandate ... that the people at least want to have the opportunity to vote on it," Cherry said.

     

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