Legislature tinkers with gaming laws

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 8:37 a.m.

Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, introduced one of the biggest gambling bills of the session. Under SB208, development of casino hotels of 200 rooms in Clark County would be restricted except on the Strip and in rural areas.

The bill lets other gaming enterprise districts expire, but developers may proceed with projects if they've received zoning approval by the end of 1998 and gaming regulatory approval by the end of 2002, said Nevada Resort Association lobbyist Kevin Doty.

To build resorts in other areas, developers must obtain a new gaming enterprise district designation. New resorts would be prohibited within 100 yards of a residential area or within 500 yards of a church or school.

SB318 would prohibit Nevada casinos from giving rebates to betters in pari-mutuel horse races, Doty said. California and other states bar their tracks from giving rebates to bettors. Some Nevada sports books have been giving rebates and this has resulted in a telecast blackout of California races in Nevada.

Under AB419, a bill introduced by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Nevada casinos would get tax deductions for noncash promotional chips, tokens, coupons and "Lucky Bucks" given to customers.

Under a 1995 law, casinos can deduct losses for these chips. The chips and other items are believed to encourage gamblers to play longer, thus boosting the state's gross revenue tax totals, Doty said.

A variety of bills would affect small businesses.

"On the whole, I think the Legislature was very kind to small business," said Phil Stout, executive director of the Nevada Association of Independent Businesses. The Legislature didn't pass any new regulations or fees that significantly hurt small business, he said.

Sen. Kathy Augustine, R-Las Vegas, introduced SB450 to give businesses a tax break for providing child-care vouchers or child-care services to employees with less than $18,000 in annual income.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, wants to require private employers with 300 or more employees to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of providing child care for employees or reimbursing employees for day care if 10 percent of the employees request one.