FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Catholic bishops in Kentucky have issued a stern warning about the potential consequences if lawmakers approve a proposal to legalize casinos.
The Rev. Patrick Delahanty, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, distributed a letter to state senators on Tuesday detailing the unanimous concerns of the state's four bishops who represent some 400,000 parishioners in the state.
"With their flashing lights, free-flowing alcoholic drinks, all-night hours and generally intoxicating atmosphere, casinos are more likely than other gambling options to lead to bad decisions and catastrophic losses for patrons, particularly those prone to problem or compulsive gambling," Delahanty wrote in the two-page letter, distributed a day before the issue is to be considered by a Senate committee.
The letter was on behalf of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Bishop Roger J. Foys of Covington, Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Lexington and Bishop William F. Medley of Owensboro.
Gambling opponents, including the Kentucky Council of Churches and the Kentucky Baptist Convention, have been working feverishly to try to defeat Gov. Steve Beshear's proposal for a constitutional amendment that would allow up to seven casinos to open in the state.
The proposal is tentatively scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the Senate Committee on State and Local Government.
Beshear used a weekly address on Friday to promote his gambling proposal, one of the centerpieces of his re-election campaign last year. He is calling on lawmakers to approve a proposed constitutional amendment during the current legislative session so that it could be put on the ballot for November for voters to ratify or reject.
"Opponents of expanded gaming should not deny their fellow citizens the right to vote on this issue," he said.
Beshear said Kentuckians are gambling hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in neighboring states, including Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia.
"This money funds their schools, their libraries, their police departments, and other improvement," Beshear said Friday. "It makes no sense to continue watching that happen."
Delahanty said allowing casinos to open would be especially harmful to the poor, who often turn to casinos in hopes of solving their financial problems.
He pointed to a four-year-old University of Kentucky study that said the state's poorest residents would be among those most at risk of become compulsive gamblers.
"For those who are struggling to make ends meet, casino gambling can provide an attractive means to relieve financial burdens, which ultimately only leads to crushing debt and personal crisis," Delahanty wrote.
___
The legislation is Senate Bill 151.
25 comments