They're praying that Kentucky doesn't become the next jewel in the Bible Belt to twinkle legalized gambling at passersby.

        Opponents of expanding gambling in Kentucky, with strong church backing, will rally legislative support with a press conference planned for the first day of the General Assembly session.

        Citizens Against Gambling Expansion, or CAGE, a Lexington-based organization backed heavily by statewide church organizations, has asked lawmakers to back the group at a Capitol Rotunda press conference planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday, just an hour before the legislature opens the 2002 session.

        “We invite you to stand with us,” CAGE Executive Committee member Nancy Jo Kemper wrote in a Dec. 28 letter to all 138 lawmakers.

        “We oppose expanded gambling because we believe that the people are against it ...(and) that the economic and social costs of expanded gambling, under any of the proposals being floated at this current time, will far exceed the increase in state revenues,” said Ms. Kemper, also executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches.

        “How do you put a price tag on destroyed families, on businesses lost to the economic competition for discretionary and non-discretionary dollars?” she said.

        But the $700 million budget shortfall in Kentucky creates a funding crisis so dire that some local lawmakers — even those who had previously opposed gaming — look toward increased revenue through slot machines at racetracks and possibly casino-style gambling on riverboats.

        During the press conference, CAGE will reveal its research on the issue as well as its strategy to mobilize opposition while preparing “for various political maneuvers that we have reason to believe may be tried during the session to enact legislation to permit casinos,” she said.

        In an interview, Ms. Kemper declined to say how many legislators she expected to attend the press conference.

        “We just sent the letter out a few days ago, and responses are still coming in,” she said. “I suspect the governor leaned pretty hard on people (to support expanded gaming) even though he won't admit it.”

        Gov. Paul Patton has not overtly pushed the gambling issue, saying he thinks a legislator or group of legislators needs to take the lead on the issue.

        So far no bills have been filed that would expand gambling, though Rep. Bob Heleringer, R-Louisville, has said he may file such a bill and Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry has said he expects to see bills filed.

        But even as CAGE tries to recruit legislative opponents to gambling, key Northern Kentucky lawmakers are expressing open minds on the topic.

        “I'm looking at it. I want to hear both sides,” said state Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Erlanger, head of the 13-member Northern Kentucky Legislative Caucus.

        “It is a crucial issue. We are looking at some tourism and economic development benefits, and before we say absolutely no, I want to hear all sides,” Mr. Westwood said.

        Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, who represents what is considered one of the most politically and socially conservative districts in the state, is also holding off judgment on the issue.

        “Always in the past I have opposed gambling, and I've been very clear on the subject,” Mr. Marcotte said. “I have to keep an open mind on it this time.

        “I received the information from (CAGE) but I don't want to commit myself too early to anything,” he said.

        While lawmakers are being lobbied to oppose gambling by CAGE, they are also being asked by major elements of the thoroughbred racing industry to support or at least consider expanding gaming to race tracks.

        Tracks such as Turfway Park in Florence and Churchill Downs in Louisville have seen their revenues and attendance fall by as much as 40 percent since riverboat casinos began operating in southern Indiana in 1996.

        Just last week, the board of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, which represents mainly Lexington area breeders, voted in favor of installing slots at race tracks.

        Mr. Marcotte said he has received calls and letters from Turfway Park employees asking him to support gaming at the track “so their jobs can be saved.”

        A recent study by the Kentucky Lottery Corp., which would likely oversee the operation of slots, said expanding gaming could bring $200 million or more in revenue to the state.

        The lure of money, which brings customers to casinos, may also attract legislative support to the issue.

        Kentucky is facing a revenue shortfall of as much as $700 million this year. House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, said money raised by gaming could not only go to racetracks but to education and social services such as health care.

        “There is nothing wrong with looking at any proposal,” Mr. Callahan said. “We have to explore all alternatives, including gaming, to see if we can generate the additional dollars that are so badly needed in Kentucky right now.”

        But Rep. Tom Kerr, D-Taylor Mill, predicts widespread opposition to gambling centered in the socially conservative pockets of eastern and western Kentucky.

        “Although the lottery has been embraced by Kentuckians and many Kentuckians go to Indiana to satisfy their gambling desires, Kentucky is still in the Bible Belt of America,” Mr. Kerr said. “And I don't think the organizations that want to expand casino-style gambling or video slots can overcome that.”

        The Louisville Courier-Journal contributed.

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