Nov. 21--Early in 2008, state lawmakers offered a variety of ideas about how Kansas could use its windfall profits from its new destination casinos.

In fact, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius submitted a budget that included nearly $82 million in gaming receipts for fiscal year 2009 -- money from the fees collected from operators who wanted to run the state-owned casinos. When the expanded gaming law passed in 2007, legislators expected four casinos and slot machines at three race tracks to generate roughly $200 million a year in additional state money.

Now, however, in the face of an economic downturn and the subsequent withdrawal of two casino operators, the state now expects to reap a measly $23.5 million for the next budget year.

As a result, Kansas' already taxed budget will include the additional complication of finding money that was spent in anticipation of the high-roller level revenue hoped from casinos.

Take a disaster aid bill, designed to help Greensburg schools rebound from the May 2007 tornado and for housing aid in rural areas. The Kansas Legislature budgeted the aid bill for a single year but planned that gambling revenue would finance the bill's needs in subsequent years.

An additional $20 million was set aside to finance bond payments for expanding the University of Kansas' pharmacy school. Yet another $7 million was set aside to finance a one-time $300 payment to retired state employees currently drawing from the state retirement system.

Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, suggested a 2.5 percent pay raise for state employees and pointed to the state's not-yet-built casinos as a possible source of money. And other leaders offered their own ideas on how the money might be spent.

The stark reality, however, is that financing even a portion of the state's budget on uncertain revenue was a hefty gamble. Forecasters expect Kansas will face a $141 million deficit at the end of this fiscal year, with the potential to reach $1 billion by the end of the next.

Not only is gambling money not materializing, money for projects already on the table -- such as the K-61 highway expansion -- seems to be disappearing rapidly in the face of an ever tougher economy.

This session, legislators should take a cautious approach to any budget that includes revenue from expanded gambling. If there is one certainty in this economy, it is to expect the unexpected and not to count your money before it's in your hand.

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