Ritter vetoes bill that would have changed gaming commission rules

DENVER · Gov. Bill Ritter got out his veto pen this week, and his first 2009 target was a popular bill to add a resident of a gambling community to the state gaming commission.

Currently, people who live or own property in Cripple Creek, Central City or Black Hawk, or anywhere in surrounding Teller or Gilpin counties, are barred from the five-member Limited Gaming Control Commission.

Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, whose district includes Teller County, sponsored the bill, Senate Bill 50, and is organizing an effort to override the veto.

He had plenty of support when the bill passed. Of the Legislature's 100 members, only six - all in the House - voted against it.
In his letter to the Legislature on Wednesday announcing his veto, Ritter said that "to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the commission and the regulation of gaming in Colorado," he was acting to prevent conflict of interest "or at a minimum, the appearance of a conflict."

Scheffel noted that members of the commission are appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate, screening potential nominees for any actual conflicts of interest. He said the bill would not affect several provisions in existing law forbidding members of the commission, or their families, to have "any interest, direct or indirect," in a casino.

Scheffel argued that his bill was a common-sense way to give the gambling towns a say in decisions affecting their communities. "We never get a seat at the table," he said Friday.

To override Ritter's veto, Scheffel will need 24 Senate votes and 44 House votes.

A veto override by a Legislature controlled by the same party as the governor would be a politically damaging blow and an extraordinary repudiation. In addition to the lopsidedness of the original votes for the gaming commission change, there were signs the override effort had a chance of success.

Scheffel said he had been invited to speak to Senate Democrats when they meet to consider their position on Ritter's veto, and was conferring with Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, whose district includes the northern gambling towns.

Contact the writer: 476-1654