Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1997 | 10:04 a.m.
Congress in the coming years probably will make two of Nevada's biggest fears come true -- a national casino tax and a nuclear waste dump, says former Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo.
"Governments are desperately seeking new sources of revenue," Schroeder said during a news conference Monday at UNLV. "You can tax (gambling) on the theory that it isn't good for people and it's discretionary."
She predicted that Congress ultimately will vote to dump the country's nuclear waste in Nevada. The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting scientific studies to determine whether Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is suitable for permanent storage.
"It is looked at as the logical place," she said.
Schroeder, 57, was at UNLV Monday to deliver a speech as part of the Barrick Lecture series. Earlier in the day, she held a news conference and addressed Nevada issues.
Schroeder represented the Denver area for 24 years before retiring from Congress this year. She is president of the Association of American Publishers.
Although casino gambling is legal in 27 states, Schroeder said most members of Congress don't have casinos in their districts and probably will come to view gambling as an easy target for taxation.
Nevada casinos, which pay the lowest state gross revenue tax in the nation, oppose a federal tax because they believe it would force marginal casinos to close.
Schroeder said she expects the National Gambling Impact Study Committee to recommend a federal casino tax. She said some critics believe casino companies, as with cigarettes companies, offer a dangerous product and can afford to pay more.
"Gambling politically is in a position where it will become the next thing people look at," she said.
Schroeder said that as a Westerner she doesn't want nuclear waste buried in this part of the country, but the perception among Easterners is that miners and others have already used up Nevada.
"There's been a national attitude that this has been a land to exploit," she said.
She also said she doesn't expect Congress to delay appointing Nevada Gov. Bob Miller as Mexico ambassador if President Clinton appoints him just because Miller is from a gambling state.
Schroeder said there is no longer a stigma in Washington against public officials from Nevada.
archive
