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Two Major Bills Die in Frankfort

Kentucky State Seal
Kentucky State Seal

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's expanded gambling amendment has failed in the state Senate. The measure would have allowed for a public vote on whether to legalize casinos. It fell seven votes short of the 23 it needed to move to the House, largely due to fractures in the Democratic caucus.

The bill's primary sponsor, Republican Damon Thayer , says he's finished with the issue after nine years of working on it. Senate President David Williams, an opponent of the issue, says the vote shows that support never existed for casinos in Kentucky in the first place. The vote kills the amendment for this legislative session.

Also, a Senate bill that would have pseudoephedrine available by prescription only has surprisingly been killed by its sponsor. State Senator Robert Stivers withdrew Senate Bill 50 late Thursday to the objections of his colleagues.

Pseudoephedrine, or PSE, is a key ingredient in both over-the-counter cold medicines and in methamphetamine. The bill was meant to curtail meth production by restricting PSE sales. the measure barely made it out of committee earlier this session. Stivers said he killed the bill so he could look into proposals that have a better chance of passing the Senate. He declined to say what those were. Stivers believes lobbying done by citizen and healthcare groups against his original measure hurt its chances of passing.