MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
State Capital Bureau
JEFFERSON CITY - Less than twenty-four hours after voters rejected riverboat gambling in Jefferson City, legislators met at the Capitol to discuss expanding gambling from the rivers to the tracks.
As a means of funding the financially-strapped Amtrak, an interim House committee is examining the possibility of allowing gambling cars on trains between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Several mid-Missouri residents attending the hearing voiced their disappointment over the gambling proposal, especially in light of Tuesday's vote in Jefferson City, which rejected riverboat gaming.
Rep. William Linton, R-Grover, said gambling cars are not the way to save Amtrak.
"Government used to protect citizens from gambling, but now it's a partner," he said. "I'd rather see railroads die a dignified death than see gaming on board."
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carol Jean Mays, D-Independence, said the committee's purpose isn't to promote gaming. "Rather, we are trying to bring real fiscal viability to meet the shortfalls of passenger service in the state," she said.
The state of Missouri will have to pay $4 million to continue the St. Louis-Kansas City route in the next year, said Jack Hynes, chief of railroads and waterways at the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department. That figure is double what it cost last year.
The St. Louis to Kansas City route is not part of Amtrak's national service. Instead, Missouri has an individual contract with Amtrak to provide four trains a day - two eastbound and two westbound.
Since service began in 1980, Missouri has subsidized 65 percent of Amtrak's operating losses in the state. Last year, however, Congress decreased Amtrak's budget by $230 million. Now, according to Hynes, "If a state wants service, the state has to fund 100 percent of that service."
Faced with these budget constraints, the legislature is examining the feasibility of gaming on trains. Other ideas discussed at the hearing included implementing a small package service, contracting with the postal service and raising ticket prices, which are currently $60 roundtrip.