Thursday, March 12, 1998 | 10:01 a.m.
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission is under fire again as it heads to Boston next week for its second meeting on the road.
Casino industry officials charged Wednesday that the agenda released by the nine-member federal panel appears loaded with anti-gaming advocates.
Many of the listed speakers, including writer Robert Goodman, one of the most quoted gaming foes in the country, were promoted last week by Commissioner James Dobson in a media advisory critical of state-run lotteries.
Dobson, president of the conservative Focus on the Family, is the commission's leading gaming critic.
He complained after January's meeting in Atlantic City that the panel did not bring out enough negative aspects of gaming. The agenda was modified after local officials had raised concerns the commission wasn't doing justice to the city's experience with gaming.
The multibillion-dollar lottery industry -- now in 37 states, but not in Nevada -- is slated to take up most of the commission's agenda in Boston on Monday and Tuesday.
Three of the first four expert witnesses expected to give testimony Monday morning are opponents of gaming and lotteries.
Among those is Goodman, whose book "The Luck Business: The devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion," has become the bible of the national anti-gambling movement.
In his media advisory, Dobson said he hoped next week's meeting would be "more balanced" than the one in Atlantic City.
"My primary concern in serving on this commission is the well-being of families," Dobson said. "The research I've seen shows that lotteries have a track record for exploiting the poor, victimizing youth and roping people into addiction. I hope we will take a long, hard look at these serious concerns."
His words and efforts have drawn criticism from the casino industry.
"Dobson seems to have been successful loading the agenda with known anti-gaming advocates," one well-placed casino industry official said. "The squeaky wheel sometimes gets the grease."
Another industry source who requested anonymity charged that the federal panel's credibility is being harmed by Dobson's antics.
"Bully's tend to get their way," the source said. "I'm not surprised by the outcome of the agenda."
But Nancy Mohr Kennedy, the commission's executive director, defended the agenda, insisting Dobson has not unduly influenced the meeting.
"We feel this is a very balanced agenda," Kennedy said from Washington. "Not any one commissioner is dominating this agenda. We have a mix of government people, business people, lottery people, and academics."
The federal commission also will begin delving into Indian gambling and will tour the highly successful Foxwoods hotel-casino, run by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in nearby Connecticut.
Tadd Johnson, chairman of the much criticized National Indian Gaming Commission, is scheduled to speak Monday.
But the potential for more controversy exists because no one from the National Governor's Association, which had asked to address the panel, is listed as a witness.
Ray Sheppach, executive director of the NGA, had asked to testify.
The nation's governors, among those the Impact Study Commission must report to when it completes its work in June 1999, are at odds with the Clinton administration's Indian gaming policies.
Kennedy said the governors will get an opportunity to address the panel at an upcoming meeting, most likely in San Diego in July.
Congress created the commission in 1997 to study the social and economic impact gambling on America for two years.
Since its inception, the panel has been marred by infighting over differing positions on gambling. Three of the commission members have strong ties to the casino industry.
Las Vegas is scheduled to be the last of six hearings the panel will hold outside Washington this year.
The commission comes to Las Vegas Nov. 10-11, and Gov. Bob Miller has indicated he is forming a special committee of prominent citizens to help the city and the state prepare for the visit.
Miller is sending three of his top aides -- Chief of Staff Jim Mulhall, Press Secretary Richard Urey and Las Vegas office manager Catherine Cortez -- to Boston to observe the commission in action.
One witness who won't be testifying is Otho Brown, president of the Connecticut lottery.
Brown, who was asked to address the panel, was among four senior lottery executives gunned down outside Hartford last week by a disgruntled accountant who later killed himself.
Among those testifying Monday will be Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, who has been critical of proposals for casino style gambling in the state. Harshbarger is the leading Democratic contender for governor there.
Also slated to speak Monday is Massachusetts State Rep. Dan Bosley, who opposes casinos in his state.
Rebecca Paul, president of the North American Association of State & Provincial Lotteries, is expected to provide some balance in Boston.
Paul, who could not be reached for comment, is slated to testify twice during the meeting.
archive
