COLUMBIA - The two casino boats in
Little River will have five years to phase out their business if
Horry County bans them, according to a revised version of the boat
bill passed Wednesday by the Senate.
The bill, also passed by the House, delegates the state's
authority to ban casino boats to the local governments, which may
choose to ban them or regulate and tax them.
The boats are legal under federal law unless the state bans them.
The two in Little River currently are the only ones operating in the
state.
Attempts to pass a ban have been unsuc-
cessful because of
opposition from Charleston legislators who fear it would block
cruise ships, most of which include gambling rooms.
The phaseout clause came as a compromise after attempts to
grandfather the two boats and proposals to make Horry County buy out
the boats if it wanted to ban them.
The clause applies to boats that were there as of Jan. 1, to
prevent what one senator called "a stampede" of operators.
The phaseout was included because some senators were concerned
that if the county chose to ban the boats, the owners would have a
case for compensation and the state could end up paying it.
The phaseout measure is similar to those used for billboards,
sexually-oriented businesses and other things that do not comply
with local codes.
The five-year phaseout was the only way a bill would pass, said
Sen. Ray Cleary, R-
Murrells Inlet, a sponsor of the bill. Cleary
was anxious for a bill to assist Georgetown County, which banned the
boats but had its ordinance overturned in court.
"I was just real happy; I think we got a good bill," Cleary said.
"I think it's fair to Horry County."
"I like it; it gives us options," Horry County Council Chairwoman
Liz Gilland said.
She said the council has not discussed the casino boats because
the county had no power to deal with them and she does not know how
members would vote.
State Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, has opposed the
boats since they arrived in early 1999 and said he was unsure about
the phaseout.
But he said he would talk with Gilland and other council members
and "if they tell me they can live with it, then I'm going to give
that good consideration."
The attempt to make Horry County pay came from casino-boat fan
Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston. Ford held the floor for more than
two hours trying to guarantee survival of the casino boats in Little
River.
State Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, repeatedly pointed
out that Little River is in this position because of a handful of
Charleston area legislators, including Ford.
He said 43 of the 46 senators supported a ban on the boats in
1999, but Charleston legislators blocked the measure.
The taxpayers of Horry County should not have to compensate the
boats because they are there through the state's failure to act,
Elliott said. Ford said it is true the state failed but that it is
not fair for the rest of the taxpayers to foot the bill for what
Horry County might do.
Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said Ford's attempt to
preserve the casino boats in Little River probably is not
needed.
"It's questionable whether they could even outlaw them in Horry
County," said McConnell, raising an issue that has been debated
since the boats arrived.
Under the federal law that allows the boats to operate, if they
make an "intervening stop" in another state, that makes them subject
to interstate commerce and immune to a state ban on the cruises.
The boats could arrange for a stop in nearby North Carolina and
escape a ban, McConnell said.
Edge said he has investigated that possibility and it would be
difficult for the boats to find a place to stop.
Earlier in the day, the Senate voted 27-6 to accept the House
version of the bill and put it on the agenda.
The Senate then amended the House bill to its version and gave
second reading to the House bill. That measure will receive third
reading today, and could get back to the House later in the day,
when a conference committee will be appointed to work out
differences.
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