Proposition A to stay on ballot

By Sam Butterfield

Published Oct. 24, 2008

After a Cole County judge rejected a lawsuit pertaining to a ballot initiative, an attorney representing opponents to the measure in the state said he would appeal the ruling.

The suit, filed by Rep. Ray Salva, D-Sugar Creek, and David Knight, a Cape Girardeau business owner, alleged that Proposition A violates a Missouri constitutional amendment that restricts ballot initiatives to one subject.

C. Robert Buckley, the attorney representing Salva and Knight, said he disagreed with the ruling, and that he would file an appeal to take the case to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Cole County Judge Richard Callahan rejected the lawsuit on Monday on the grounds that all of its subjects relate to gambling.

Proposition A would remove the $500 limit on gambling losses, raise taxes on casinos from 20 percent to 21 percent and cap the number of casinos in Missouri at those already built and those in the process of being built if passed in November.

It would also create a fund from the gambling tax to go to primary and secondary schools, which would generate an estimated $105 million to $130 million dollars for K-12 education and $5 million to $7 million for higher education, according to proponents of the initiative.

Scott Charton, a spokesman for Yes on A, an advocacy group for the initiative, said Callahan made the right decision.

"Missouri voters want the casino revenues to go to education, and Prop A provides new protections to assure that happens," Charton said.

Salva said the initiative has been misrepresented as benefiting education when, he said, it would benefit casinos.

"I believe losing $500 every two hours in a boat is enough," Salva said. "I believe that having the $500 loss limit prevents people who have a gambling disease from losing all their money."

Salva said he does not believe the funding will add up for schools and that higher education institutions will see no money at all.

"This is not about kids in schools. This is not about education," Salva said. "This is strictly about casinos, casinos, casinos."

Buckley said Proposition A is an instance of logrolling, where multiple issues are conflated in one bill.

Laura Egerdal, a spokeswoman for the Missouri secretary of state, said the ruling shows her office acted properly in placing Proposition A on the ballot.

"What the Secretary of State's office does is we work to make sure that all ballot initiatives placed on the ballot meet the legal requirements and that the language is fair so Missouri voters can understand what they're voting on, and yesterday's verdict shows the secretary of state's office acted properly in placing this initiative on the ballot," Engerdal said.

Proponents of the measure have dubbed it the "Schools First" initiative, though the Columbia Public Schools and MU have no position on the matter.

"Because it's not an education issue, it's a gambling issue, we don't take a stand on it," said Lynn Barnett, assistant superintendent for Columbia Public Schools.

MU spokesman Christian Basi said in an e-mail that the university has no official position on Proposition A or any other ballot initiative.