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BATON ROUGE, La. Slot machines are not yet plugged in at the New Orleans Fair Grounds, but lawmakers already are trying to tap a share of the expected revenue for various projects.

Representative Peppi Bruneau, a Republican from New Orleans, says he and members of the Senate are looking at amending one of his bills to funnel money from the Fair Grounds slots to pay the state's obligations to the Saints.

State law now dedicates five percent of any revenue from the slot machines at the track go to the allied health and nursing program in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.

Bruneau's original bill would divert some money for the beautification of New Orleans' City Park and some to the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation to help defray the cost of large sports events in the city.

An amendment was added in the Senate Finance Committee to appropriate as much as 200-thousand dollars to the Algiers Economic Development Foundation and another 200-thousand dollars to a program to train workers for jobs in the hospitality industry.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material


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