Beshear/Williams Differ On Expanded Gambling

• {Frankfort, Kentucky}...In his inaugural address Tuesday, Governor Steve Beshear called for the legislature to pass a gambling amendment and said he believes it should start in the Senate and not the House, which passed gambling legislation in 2009 only to see it die in a Senate committee. Wednesday, Senate President David Williams, who lost to Beshear in the November general election, said it's premature to talk about whether Senate Republicans would allow a constitutional amendment authorizing expanded gambling to start in their chamber in next year's legislative session. A constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths vote in both the House and the Senate. Voters then make a final decision in the next general election. Senator Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who voted for the 2009 gambling bill in committee, said he doesn't think any Senate Republicans will want to take up the issue before it clears the Democratic House. Buford says its unlikely the amendment could pass if Beshear stands firm and insists the Senate deal with it first.