Kentucky School Boards Association backs gaming vote, cigarette tax increase

Frankfort, KY (Feb. 26, 2008) – Kentucky’s largest organization of elected officials has endorsed letting voters decide the fate of expanded gaming in the state.

During its annual conference Feb. 23-25 in Louisville, members of the Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) voted overwhelmingly in support of placing a constitutional amendment on expanded gaming on the November ballot. Seventy-one percent of local school board members voting during the conference supported putting the matter in the hands of the state’s voters.
“I want to be very clear about this vote,” said KSBA President Ed Massey, a member of the Boone County Board of Education. “The mere fact that 71 percent voted in favor does not mean that KSBA is endorsing expanded gaming. People who voted ‘Yes’ to place it on the ballot may well vote ‘No’ if it gets there.

“But gaming has been the subject of legislative discussion as a possible answer to the state’s revenue needs for too long. Until we put this issue to rest, up or down, it’s going to continue to be both an option and a distraction,” Massey said. “In a democracy, you let the people decide. And if the people decide against expanded gaming, then the General Assembly should move on, and get down to the business of finding the revenues to adequately fund public education,” he said.

Earlier this year, the KSBA Board of Directors voted unanimously to support another revenue-producing proposal – increasing the state’s tax on the sale of cigarettes. This is the second time that the association’s leadership has endorsed an increase in the state’s cigarette tax as a means of meeting the revenue needs for public schools and other services.