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JEFFERSON CITY • Missouri legislators have quietly taken the first step toward letting the state's casinos make loans to their patrons, a move that the gambling industry has sought for years but one that worries
gambling opponents.
Under the measure, gamblers who passed a casino's credit check would be able to borrow money and exchange it for electronic tokens and chips to wager at the casino.
Proponents say the change would help Missouri's casinos attract high-end players, such as professional athletes visiting St. Louis. Without the change, they say those gamblers will cross the river and gamble in Illinois,
where casinos are allowed to extend credit.
"You can't carry $30,000, $20,000 in cash," said Rep. Scott Largent, R-Clinton, sponsor of the casino amendment. "Some of these athletes who come in, they want to gamble.
If they want to gamble that much, they should be able to."
The House Financial Institutions Committee tacked the change onto a banking bill Wednesday, with no debate. The bill then won the committee's endorsement on a vote of 13-1. It will go to the full House after the Rules Committee approves it.
Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, D-St. Louis, cast the only "no" vote, which she called a "protest against the process" of adding a complex change without time to review it
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...c37-581c-990b-570e546e7fb1.html#ixzz1tFoLlnuV
gambling opponents.
Under the measure, gamblers who passed a casino's credit check would be able to borrow money and exchange it for electronic tokens and chips to wager at the casino.
Proponents say the change would help Missouri's casinos attract high-end players, such as professional athletes visiting St. Louis. Without the change, they say those gamblers will cross the river and gamble in Illinois,
where casinos are allowed to extend credit.
"You can't carry $30,000, $20,000 in cash," said Rep. Scott Largent, R-Clinton, sponsor of the casino amendment. "Some of these athletes who come in, they want to gamble.
If they want to gamble that much, they should be able to."
The House Financial Institutions Committee tacked the change onto a banking bill Wednesday, with no debate. The bill then won the committee's endorsement on a vote of 13-1. It will go to the full House after the Rules Committee approves it.
Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, D-St. Louis, cast the only "no" vote, which she called a "protest against the process" of adding a complex change without time to review it
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...c37-581c-990b-570e546e7fb1.html#ixzz1tFoLlnuV
