Editorial: Maybe it won’t be so bad after all

Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

It is an understatement to say that the gaming industry and the residents of Las Vegas are jittery about the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's investigation. One of the biggest question marks at the the commission's inception was how the chairwoman of the commission, Kay Coles James, would run the panel.

James, a social conservative and dean of the School of Government at Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia, was greeted suspiciously by the gaming industry at the outset. Later she came under fire -- and deservedly so -- for allowing a subcommittee to meet in secret. This action prompted Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., to seek a General Accounting Office investigation of the commission.

Some members of the commission demonstrated that they had a biased view of gaming and wouldn't give the industry a fair shot. In particular, Commissioner James Dobson has shown time and again that he believes gaming is evil and will result in the destruction of American society if allowed to continue.

But James' comments Tuesday about government's role in regulating gaming -- made to the American Gaming, Lodging & Leisure Summit meeting in Las Vegas -- were encouraging. "As a Reagan conservative, I believe in limited government," James said. "People who support increased government intrusion, taxation and regulation ... will have to make a very convincing argument to get my vote. I believe government has no place in dictating personal choice." If you didn't know James was speaking you would swear the preceding statement was spoken by a casino executive.

Gaming definitely has its downsides and the commission has been right to probe important issues such as problem gambling. And James was correct to note the deficiencies of casinos in her speech, calling on the gaming industry to acknowledge and address them.

While Las Vegas casinos have come to symbolize gambling in this nation, the reality is that gaming has spread like wildfire. State-run lotteries are some of the worst offenders, encouraging those who have the least money to gamble it away, an issue James tackled directly. James knocked state governments' reliance on lotteries, "which offer the lowest odds of winning and the highest profits." She suggested there should be additional debate on whether states should continue to operate them.

James' remarks in Las Vegas were positive and certainly welcomed, but Las Vegans likely will remain skeptical as to whether they will get a fair shake from the commission. Time will only tell whether James will be able to form a consensus based on her stated beliefs -- or if she was just telling an audience of casino executives what she believes they wanted to hear.