COLUMBIA - Local governments would have the power to ban or regulate casino boats, and the two in Little River would have a five-year phaseout if Horry County decides to ban them, now that the House has accepted the Senate version of the casino-boat bill.

Opposition to the phaseout time in a Senate amendment had been expected, but the measure passed on a voice vote with no audible opposition.

There had been no phaseout in the House version.

Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, had planned to propose an amendment for a three- or four-year phaseout of the boats, which are in his district.

He changed his mind because the Senate probably would not have time to act in the four remaining days of the session and there was a risk that nothing would pass, he said.

"It's a hollow victory," Edge said. "I really wish the General Assembly could have resolved the issue instead of being forced by the Senate to hand it off to the counties."

He also said he did not oppose the phaseout because Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said the council does not object to it.

"This is about the best we can do, and we ought to take what we can get," said Rep. John Graham Altman, a Charleston Republican.

Rep. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island, a sponsor of the bill in the House, agreed and asked members to accept the Senate version.

"It's time for us to move on with this," she said.

The House has passed a statewide ban on the vessels three times since the boats came to the state in 1998 under a federal law that allows them to take gambling cruises offshore unless a state bans them.

The Senate will not pass a statewide ban.

Miller said Georgetown County, which was anxious for a bill to pass, should be pleased.

The county passed a ban on the boats and was successfully sued by a prospective operator.

The circuit court said the county did not have the power to enact a ban.

The city of Georgetown and other coastal towns also have passed bans on the boats.

"I'm grateful that Tracy withdrew his amendment" because the bill probably would have stalled if the House changed it, she said.

Miller said casino boat operators probably would test the new law in court, but that "it's a good beginning, I think."