You gotta give the man credit for creative thinking.

Kansas Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican, used some fancy legislative footwork to try to repeal the state law authorizing casinos and slot machines Wednesday night.

The attempt came during debate on a bill that, initially, anyway, concerned pensions for nurses at state health facilities. 

Another lawmaker successfully amended the bill to include a 3 percent pension increase for retired state workers - funded by state gambling revenues. That gave Kinzer his chance.

He offered an amendment on the fly to eliminate the entire gambling law, passed by lawmakers last year. 

Eliminate the gambling law in a bill about pensions? 

A little background is needed. Legislative rules say amendments must be "germane" to the underlying bill. Often, when a lawmaker proposes a contentious amendment, another lawmaker will challenge its germaneness. A third lawmaker - the rules chair - then reviews the bill and the proposed amendment and decides whether it is germane or not. His rulings can be - and often are - challenged by the losing side.

You can see where this is going. Supporters of the gambling law didn't want to risk re-opening the gambling issue, so they challenged the germaneness of Kinzer's amendment.

The ruling? Not germane. Kinzer challenged the ruling, and it went to a House vote.

The vote was 71-43 to uphold the ruling. That kept Kinzer's amendment from getting a full vote.

Kinzer was one of several lawmakers who fought against gambling last year. Lawmakers narrowly approved a law last year that allows state-owned casinos and slot machine parlors.

Kinzer said he was disappointed his efforts failed Wednesday, but said he couldn't pass up the opportunity.

“It was important to at least send the message that many people don’t view this as a settled issue,” Kinzer said afterwards.

And the pension bill? After two hours of debate, the bill was sent back to committee.