AN ACT relating to gaming and making an appropriation therefor.
     Establish KRS Chapter 239 and create new sections thereof to authorize gambling at horse racing tracks and casinos; define terms; create the Kentucky Gaming Commission; establish the duties and responsibilities of the commission; require the commission to determine the occupations related to casino gaming and the qualifications for an occupational license; establish the application procedures for a gaming, manufacturer's, and supplier's license; establish the requirements and qualifications for all gaming-related licenses; prohibit a licensee from transferring or assigning the license without prior commission approval; permit a licensee to conduct gaming operations from a temporary facility under certain conditions; require gaming licensees that are racing associations to make certain requests to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority regarding the number of racing days the licensee will have scheduled during a year; create an exemption to allow facilities development for gaming activities regarding zoning; provide that other zoning and building codes still apply; establish the position and the duties of the executive director of the commission; establish that certain job classifications are to be established by agreement of the parties to a collective bargaining agreement; require that before a gaming license is issued, the governing body in the jurisdiction where gaming operations are proposed shall first enact an ordinance to permit casino gaming; limit the number of gaming licenses; establish criteria for gaming operation locations; require certain information from applicants seeking a gaming license; establish the fees for applications, licensure, and renewal for all licenses; create the Kentucky gaming fund, the Kentucky municipal public safety fund, and the Kentucky county public safety fund; require that certain amounts of the gaming fund support administrative operations of the commission, and other amounts from the gaming fund be dispersed to the Kentucky compulsive gamblers assistance fund, the Department of Education, the Council on Postsecondary Education, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for health care services for certain indigent Kentuckians and for a prescription drug program for senior citizens, the Kentucky county public safety fund, capital construction, sewer and water projects administered under the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, the Kentucky veterans' trust fund, the state road fund, the budget reserve trust fund, and the equine industry program trust and revolving fund; establish the disbursement of funds to the Kentucky horse racing industry; prohibit licensure of certain people under specific circumstances; establish a wagering tax at a rate of 35 percent of adjusted gross receipts received and reported monthly by the licensee obliged to pay the tax; establish the terms of all licenses regarding gaming operations; require the commission to promulgate administrative regulations to prescribe procedures for gaming licensees regarding the effective control over their internal fiscal affairs; require periodic financial reports from gaming licensees; require annual audits of the financial statements of gaming licensees; define and limit gambling games and devices; set forth how money deposited into the compulsive gamblers assistance fund will be expended; require the State Auditor to perform an annual audit of the commission; require gaming licensees to compile a list of persons to exclude or reject from licensed gaming establishments; require the commission to notify a person placed on an exclusion or ejection list; permit the commission to take disciplinary action if a gaming licensee knowingly fails to exclude or eject a person on the list; permit the commission to establish a voluntary exclusion program for a person that wants to exclude themselves from a gaming facility; require that any voluntary program meet specific guidelines; establish penalties for persons placed on the list who enter the premises of a licensed gaming establishment; provide that the transport of gambling equipment and supplies into the state will not be a violation of federal laws; define the term "cheat" and establish penalties for persons who cheat; create the compulsive gamblers assistance fund; establish how expenditures from the compulsive gamblers assistance fund will be utilized; require the commission to prepare an annual report detailing activities and expenditures of the compulsive gamblers assistance fund; encourage gaming licensees to cooperate with local business and community organizations to stimulate the economy through tourism; require gaming licensees to pay the salaries of certain commission employees; require gaming licensees to make office space available for certain commission employees; prohibit a person under 21 from placing a wager or being in an area where gambling games are in operation; establish that commission members, the executive director, and commission employees are subject to the executive branch code of ethics; limit the administrative fine to $50,000 per offense; establish that administrative review under KRS Chapter 13B is available for persons aggrieved by an action by the commission; create a new section of KRS Chapter 131 to attach the commission to the Department of Revenue for administrative purposes; amend various sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes to conform; include a severability clause; include language that this Act is void if the voters fail to approve a constitutional amendment permitting the General Assembly to authorize casinos.

     Feb 20-introduced in House
     Feb 21-to Licensing & Occupations (H)