It's been pitched as an economic stimulus plan, an educational improvement measure, a military incentive package, and as a boon for Kentucky's signature horse industry.

After years of trying to get a gambling bill through the state legislature, advocates defined the measure in what turned out to be an effective marketing strategy, at least among House lawmakers who approved it Friday. It appears to be a tougher sale in the Senate, which hasn't yet taken up the proposal.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, criticized the House plan that ties school funding to the gambling bill.

"The Senate will not be bought, and it will not be sold to any power group or any interest in the commonwealth of Kentucky," he said. "The for sale sign has been taken down off the legislature."

Williams said additional gambling can have a "truly terrible effect" on Kentucky.

"Slots are bad business," he said. "These people want to put their hand deeply in the pockets of the poorest Kentuckians, and it's going to stop right here."

Gov. Steve Beshear called lawmakers into a special session last week to address a projected $1 billion budget deficit. He included the gambling proposal on the agenda, saying it could generate some $300 million a year in taxes and fees.

"Gambling can be a tough sale when you have a large churchgoing population, unless you can make clear to people that the benefits to the economy and to education and to the young are overwhelming," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "You've got to make the case that people are going to benefit tangibly so that the benefits outweigh the sin, that the sin produces virtue. If you're going to sell sin, you've go to do it the right way in the Bible belt."

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, the Prestonsburg Democrat who sponsored the bill, is trying to pull that off by proposing taxes on gambling revenues. That, he said, would generate money that could leverage more than $1 billion in bonds to pay for a massive school construction program, creating work for thousands of jobless Kentuckians.

Although Kentucky has a long tradition of betting on horse races, political leaders have been reluctant to legalize other forms of gambling. Opponents argue that the state constitution specifically forbids casino-style gambling. Proponents contend a previous constitutional amendment to allow a state lottery opened the door.

The American Gaming Association lists 12 other horse racing states — including neighboring West Virginia and Indiana — that allow bettors to wager on video gambling machines, slot machines or other casino-style games at the track.

In arguing to join that list, Stumbo said approving the measure would allow Kentucky to recoup money that residents already are losing in other states.

Passing the gambling bill could mean new school buildings to replace dilapidated ones in counties across the state, said state Rep. Harry Moberly, a Richmond Democrat who helped to usher the bill through the House. Moberly said the proposal is one of historic importance for Kentucky, funding the largest school construction program ever in the state.

Additional revenue, under the proposal, also would allow Kentucky to stop taxing the income of active-duty military personnel. And it would eliminate the sales tax on horse products, including feed, a benefit to the thousands of Kentuckians who own non-racing breeds.

State Rep. David Osborne, R-Prospect, said the measure would preserve the state's horse racing industry by producing additional revenue that would allow tracks to increase purses and breeder incentives, thereby keeping the nation's top thoroughbreds in Kentucky. Osborne said the fate of the industry hinges on passage of the bill.

Martin Cothran, spokesman for the antigambling group Say No To Casinos, objected to the approach Stumbo took to get the legislation through the House.

"It's slots for tots," Cothran said. "Kentucky has always been thought of as a corrupt state, and it's this type of political shenanigans that got it that reputation. It's a great way to pass a bill, but it isn't a very good way to do public policy."

By promising increased education funding, advocates were able to win the support of the 40,000-member Kentucky Education Association. President Sharron Oxendine said members chose to support the measure because the state's schools are desperately underfunded.

"Our members said we need revenue of any shape, form or fashion," she said. "They really knew we needed something to increase state revenue, and this was the only thing that was being proposed at this time."

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