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By JAMES JORDAN
Traveler Editor

A gambling bill for Kansas made it through the Legislature and the governor signed it, but it may not really be a done deal, legislators said Thursday at a forum in Winfield.

Cowley County representatives, Sen. Greta Goodwin (D) Winfield, as well as State Reps Ed Trimmer (D) Winfield, and Kasha Kelley (R) Arkansas City, talked about the recently completed session at a wrap up forum held on the Southwestern College campus.

Less than 20 people showed up, and toward the end, the conversation turned to gambling.

Goodwin, long a gambling opponent, switched her vote toward the end, and some saw that as a key vote in getting the bill passed.

Goodwin said the votes were there anyway, and that it would have passed eventually, regardless of how she voted.

She said lobbyists didn't influence her, but a conversation with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius did. The governor told her that Cowley County stood to gain money from gambling, and that helped Goodwin change her mind.

Goodwin said the county stands to receive $744,000 per year from a casino in the Wichita area. She said at the same time she was hearing about needs by agencies in the county, "and I saw an opportunity there."

The bill itself allows some counties, including Sedgwick, to allow voters to vote on whether to allow casinos and expanded gambling at dog and horse race tracks.

The only problem is that the "trailer bill," a bill designed to fix various errors of language with the bill, did not pass. It will have to be finished next year, and Goodwin said it may even take a state supreme court decision to get it ironed out.

"But I do think it will happen," she said.

Kelley said she wanted the trailer bill to pass, but she still feels the bill was "foisted upon" members of the legislature.

She said the extra money is good, but questioned what the cost will be on expanded social services that will be needed as a result.

Kelley said it is not good business to take on something without looking at the costs. She is not certain that the increased revenue will offset other costs that the state and county will incur.

She said small businesses are hurt because people spend money gambling instead of shopping, and that there is an extra burden put on social services because people lose all their money and have to get help to feed their families. She said crime normally also increases when gambling is brought into an area.

Kelley believes it would be better to focus on trying to bring industry into the area, instead of gambling.

"We could develop an industry to help those addicted to gambling, and those hurt by family members gambling," she said.

Trimmer said Cowley County is "already in a gambling zone." He does not believe expanding gambling will have that much of an impact locally because people are already going across the border into Oklahoma to gamble.

He said the only difference would be that expanding gambling would stop the flow of revenue to Oklahoma, and keep some of the money in Cowley County.

He also challenged the idea that there is a greater burden on social services as a result of gambling.

"I have not seen any documentation. I would like to see a study showing what the extra costs on social services really are," he said.

Above: State Rep. Kasha Kelley, left, and State Sen. Greta Goodwin, right, listen as State Rep. Ed Trimmer explains his views on gambling at a forum held Thursday evening in Winfield.