\nFRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) \u2013 A Kentucky Baptist leader warns that casinos would \u201cprey on the most vulnerable\u201d as his organization launched a radio ad aimed at stirring grassroots opposition to expanded gambling.<\/p>\n
\tThe ad, featuring the Kentucky Baptist Convention\u2019s executive director, comes as expanded gambling supporters push a proposed ballot measure that would let Kentucky voters decide whether to legalize casinos.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m a hunter, but Kentucky lawmakers should not be issuing \u2018hunting licenses\u2019 that allow casino operators to prey on the most vulnerable among us,\u201d the KBC leader, Paul Chitwood, said in the ad.<\/p>\n
\tThe 60-second spot will air on several Christian radio stations for a week, starting Wednesday, according to the state Baptist Convention, which has 750,000 members. The KBC called it a modest ad buy.<\/p>\n
\tChitwood urges listeners to press their lawmakers to oppose expanded gambling.<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s part of the group\u2019s two-fold campaign against casinos. Chitwood also is featured in a video being sent to churches across the state. In the video, he warns that \u201cwhere gambling is legalized, misery follows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe said it\u2019s the first time he\u2019s known the KBC to use an ad to spread its word against expanded gambling.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis issue keeps coming up year after year, and it\u2019s time that the Christian majority in this state rises up and says \u2018enough is enough,\u2019\u201d Chitwood said.<\/p>\n
\tKentucky has a long history of wagering on horses but the Bible-belt state has resisted casinos.<\/p>\n
\tSupporters of legalizing casinos point to expanded gambling as the best option to generate new revenues needed to meet the state\u2019s funding needs.<\/p>\n
\tA House committee held two hearings on the issue this month but hasn\u2019t voted on gambling proposals.<\/p>\n
\tHouse Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville, is sponsoring two casino-related measures.<\/p>\n
\tOne is a proposed constitutional amendment that would let voters decide if they want to make casinos legal. A companion bill specifies how many casinos would be allowed, how the industry would be regulated and how the state\u2019s share of revenue would be distributed.<\/p>\n
\tClark\u2019s plan would allow up to eight casinos statewide, including five run by racetracks.<\/p>\n
\tHe says the state would eventually take in an estimated $286 million in yearly casino-related tax revenues. Under his plan, half the amount would go to education. Licensing fees granted to casino operators would generate at least $50 million more for the state for each casino at the outset.<\/p>\n
\tSupporters say Kentuckians are flocking to neighboring states to gamble at casinos near the border, generating tax revenue for those states that could stay in the Bluegrass state.<\/p>\n
\tIn the Senate, the effort to legalize casinos is led by Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Dan Seum, R-Louisville.<\/p>\n
\tThe push for casino gambling comes after years of lean budgets in Kentucky. The state endured about $1.6 billion in state spending cuts the past six years as tax collections plunged amid the recession.<\/p>\n
\tGov. Steve Beshear recommended $98.6 million in additional spending cuts in the two-year state budget proposal he presented to lawmakers last week. The cuts are aimed at freeing up more money for schools.<\/p>\n
\tBeshear campaigned in support of expanded gambling as a revenue producer, but he\u2019s been unable to get a gambling measure through the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\tIn the radio ad, Chitwood takes aim at what he calls the \u201csmall group\u201d of politicians promising that expanded gambling will provide an \u201ceconomic boon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAnd it will be \u2013 to the casino operators eager to cash in on the misery of our fellow Kentuckians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) \u2013 A Kentucky Baptist leader warns that casinos would \u201cprey on the most vulnerable\u201d as his organization launched a radio ad aimed at stirring grassroots opposition to expanded gambling. The ad, featuring the Kentucky Baptist Convention\u2019s executive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}