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Kansas at odds over fundraising raffles

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Kansas gamblers can find blackjack, roulette and slot machines across the state at gambling halls and Indian casinos.

But the deeply conservative state has a constitutional prohibition against private lotteries — a ban that has prevented churches, veterans groups, cheerleader clubs and other nonprofits from running fundraising raffles.

A measure on the November ballot will give voters a chance to finally lift that ban.

In 2013, the Legislature tried to change the law, but Republican Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed it, saying it was unconstitutional.

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The veto launched the effort to amend the state constitution, supported by dozens of state senators and representatives.

About 52% of voters support lifting the ban on raffles, and 31% are opposed, according to a poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University.

But 16% of Kansas voters are undecided and about 20 members of the state House oppose the measure, including Republican Rep. Steven Becker, a retired judge from Buhler.

“What I oppose mostly about it is that it will be used by school students,” he said in an interview. “The cheerleaders want to go to camp or the band wants to go to a competition, and they hold a fundraising raffle.

“We are opening the door for our schoolchildren to run a lottery,” he said. “We are bringing our schoolchildren into the gaming industry. It used to be gambling was immoral. I don’t know when it became moral. I see too many conflicts in the underlying principle.”

Supporters say the fundraising raffles are just innocent fun and the concerns about them are misplaced.

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“We like slot machines, but evidently the constitution is biased against quilts,” said Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce of Hutchinson, also a Republican, referring to the tradition of raffling handmade quilts. “It is an anomaly and we need to fix it.”

ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com

For more national news, follow Ralph Vartabedian at @rvartabedian


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