House members voted Wednesday to ban new casinos licenses for two years, a move that could block proposed casinos from opening in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.

The bill, which needs another vote before moving to the Senate, comes as the Missouri Gaming Commission considers whether to approve a license for a fifth casino in the Kansas City area.

The House legislation would bar new licenses until 2010, including a license for a casino under consideration for Sugar Creek. But it would also block a casino already being built in St. Louis, because licenses aren’t issued until after construction.

Rep. Shannon Cooper said he wants to block only new construction because Gaming Commission members are irresponsibly regulating the industry. He said he would work to change his legislation so it doesn’t affect the new St. Louis casino.

Cooper, R-Clinton, said he’s particularly worried about a Kansas City market that’s about to get even more competition from Kansas.

“We need to step back for a couple of years and need to analyze what’s going on everywhere before we start throwing licenses out,” he said.

But many Democrats said the commission has turned gambling into a profitable state industry and should be trusted. They said if competition from Kansas is the concern, the Legislature should remove the limit on how much someone can lose while gambling because only Missouri has loss limits.

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov
Missouri Gaming Commission: http://www.mgc.dps.mo.gov

To read the rest of the story, see the April 3 print edition.