HB 816 -- EXCURSION GAMBLING BOATS

SPONSOR:  Meadows

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Tourism by
a vote of 10 to 0.

This bill removes the provision that makes an excursion gambling
boat licensee guilty of a class B misdemeanor if he or she
exchanges tokens, chips, or other forms of credit to be used on
gambling games for anything of value.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2010, FY 2011, and
FY 2012.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that because voters repealed the loss
limits on gambling boats it no longer makes sense to prohibit
casino customers from using casino chips to pay a waitress for a
drink on the casino's gaming floor.  It is inconvenient if you
must leave the gaming floor to cash out chips in order to buy a
drink.  Customers who are not familiar with the law will
sometimes refuse the drink after it's ordered because they do not
want to leave their table.  Waitresses are then required to buy
the drinks with their own money and then be reimbursed by the
customer.  If a patron refuses to cash in to pay for the drink,
the waitress loses money.  Wait staff cannot be tipped with
casino chips, although this is a very common practice in other
states.  Allowing customers to use casino chips to buy drinks
will help the wait staff.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Meadows; and Dave
Morton, Local 74-Service Workers United.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated November 17, 2009 at 9:25 am