Bill on casino contributions appears dead

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 10:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sen. Joe Neal's bill to stop the casino industry from contributing to political campaigns in Nevada may be dead by this weekend.

Representatives of the gaming industry and unions teamed up Wednesday to tell the Senate Government Affairs Committee the bill was unfair and no single industry should be disenfranchised from taking part in election campaigns.

Committee Chairwoman Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas said a vote would be taken Friday and she added, "This bill is in trouble."

Neal suggested the political influence gained by the casino industry from its massive campaign contributions could "corrupt the system." While he said he did not have any animosity towards the industry, Neal said, "We should not allow gaming to control us."

Neal, who accepted contributions from casinos in past campaign, has been a frequent critic of the industry in recent years.

And he said, "This body is not immune from corruption."

Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, challenged Neal.

He said his statements were an "indictment on every legislator" who received casino donations. He said he has received gaming donations and added, "Gaming doesn't control me."

Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, asked Neal to list instances of corruption. Neal referred to an undercover FBI sting in the early 1980, in which several legislators were arrested on bribery charges.

Neal is the only sponsor of the bill and he suggested other senators were afraid of taking on Nevada's biggest industry.

D. Taylor, staff director of Culinary Union Local 226 in Las Vegas, told the committee that no group should be removed from the political process. The industry, he said, provides "quality union jobs" that pay better and have higher benefits than other places in the nation.

"It hardly seems fair that Nevada's economic backbone, gaming, can be disenfranchised."

Danny Thompson, of the Nevada State AFL-CIO, said he served five terms in the Assembly and received casino contributions. But he never voted with the gaming interests on unemployment and workers' disability issues. "To say a donation buys you is not right," he said.

Jim Mulhall, vice president of governmental affairs of the Nevada Resort Association, said the industry provides 22 percent of the jobs in the state and contributes the lions share of taxes. He called Neal's bill "incredibly unreasonable."

Neal pointed out that New Jersey law bans political contributions by the gaming clubs. Mulhall said, "Just because New Jersey does it, doesn't make it right or right for Nevada."