Critical Blow to Springfield Casino after Thumbs Down to the Amendment

In a critical blow to the Springfield casino, House Committee did not pass an amendment to add casino on gambling expansion bill.

The amendment was filed by Rep. Tim Butler, R- Springfield in Senate Bill 7 to add a Springfield casino to five other authorised by the bill.

The amendment was not cleared by the House Rules Committee, to be heard in House of Executives on Monday.

Butler has likely calculated the odds of the Springfield casino to be approved during the spring session to be very unlikely. The session is scheduled for adjournment Wednesday after which it would need a three-fifths vote in each chamber to pass.

Chris Stone, Lobbyist and the local developer had come up the idea of a casino in Springfield, which he believes could provide for about $25 million a year for city development and school repairs and opening the job opportunity for about 600-800 people at the Springfield downtown.