Gambling study gets more money

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997 | 11:37 a.m.

A spending bill signed into law last week by President Clinton contains an additional $1 million for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, bringing the panel's budget to $5 million.

The money will fund an ambitious two-year study of legalized gambling, its growth this decade and its impact on communities and gamblers.

The nine-member commission already has awarded a $620,000 contract to the National Research Council to compile research on compulsive gambling.

In addition, its top two staff members were hired at salaries totaling $200,000 a year.

The commission is negotiating a second research contract, with the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Affairs, a group of state, local and federal executives.

In addition, the commission plans trips to Atlantic City, N.J., and New England and Mississippi River communities next spring to examine Indian reservation and riverboat gambling.

Travel to Western states, including Arizona and Nevada, is expected later in the year.

Commissioners began eyeing additional funding soon after their work got started. Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., arranged for the $1 million add-on when projections showed the panel, after accounting for administrative costs, might not have enough left over to fund its research.

At its October meeting, commissioners discussed whether to ask Congress for more time as well as more money to complete its task.

The panel is scheduled to terminate on Aug. 20, 1999, but Commissioner Leo McCarthy suggested it could use another three or four months to complete its work.

The commission began meeting in August, but only hired its executive director and top researcher last month.

Some commissioners, including Bill Bible, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, have suggested waiting further before deciding whether to ask Congress for more time.