Gaming industry awaits release of report

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The casino industry remains cautious, but in high spirits, as the National Gambling Impact Study Commission prepares to release its long-awaited report Friday.

The report, which will be unveiled at the National Press Club at a 10 a.m. EDT news conference, is the result of a two-year, $5 million examination of gambling in America by a sometimes bitterly divided nine-member panel. Hearings were conducted across the country, including Las Vegas, in the first such study since 1976.

"There are some things that we don't like, but we have to be very satisfied at the way we came out of this given the makeup and the mandate of the commission," Wayne Mehl, the Washington lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association said.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, the industry's national political arm, agreed, saying the panel has shot down many of the "misconceptions, myths and superstitions" about gambling.

"The commission makes clear that gaming in this country has gained widespread acceptability," Fahrenkopf said.

A CNN-Gallop poll released today found that two-thirds of Americans approve of legalized gambling, and Fahrenkopf said an American Gaming Association survey he expects to make public next week pushes that favorable rating to 80 percent.

Most of what will be contained in Friday's report already has been made public at hearings in the past several months.

The commission, which had three casino allies as members, did not recommend federal regulation and taxation of the industry, though that didn't stop Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., this week from proposing a 1 percent national gaming tax to help fund treatment for gambling addiction.

Wolf, who's helping the religious right advance its anti-gaming agenda, said he was considering the tax proposal as part of a series of legislative packages aimed at the industry in the wake of the commission's report.

Observers, however, don't believe Wolf will have much support in Congress to tax gaming, which has become a major "soft money" donor to both parties. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, already has come out against Wolf's proposal.

The report focuses heavily on gambling addiction and encourages all segments of the industry to spend more money fighting the problem.

The casino industry has acknowledged it needs to heighten problem gambling awareness and already has stepped up to the plate, donating millions toward research.

On the upside, industry leaders are delighted with the portions of the report that recognize the economic benefits gaming brings to communities.

Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn was so excited about that news last week that he told the Sun the commission was a "giant waste of time and money." He said the panel has come up with findings that most of the nation already knows.

Wynn was quoted this week in a Business Week article that suggested the high-powered industry had "co-opted" the work of the commission.

The Mirage boss told the magazine that gaming secretly supported the appointment of Virginia college administrator Kay James to the commission.

James, who became chairwoman, was regarded as being aligned with the religious right, the industry's arch enemy, at the time of her appointment. Though she gave casino lobbyists fits at times, she turned out to be fairer than many within the industry expected.

Wynn's remarks, however, have raised concerns within the Nevada congressional delegation and gaming's own lobbying team that James now has been placed in a position of having to make a stronger statement against the industry at Friday's news conference.

Those concerns were expressed behind closed doors Wednesday when Fahrenkopf, who's been making the rounds on Capitol Hill all week, briefed the staffs of Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev., about the upcoming report.

The congressional delegation also is said to be worried that the commission's recommendations, especially those about problem gambling, will shine a light on Nevada's casino industry in the months ahead. Nevada gaming likely will be watched closely to see how it deals with the recommendations.

Additionally, gaming critics, such as the Rev. Tom Grey, of the National Coalition Against Gambling, and James Dobson, of the conservative Focus on the Family, expect to find enough ammunition in the report to keep up the heat on gambling across the country. Dobson is a member of the commission.

Public Citizen, a Washington-based government watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, also has joined the battle. This week, the organization released a report accusing Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., of being in gaming's pocket and working early on to take the bite out of the commission's report.

And there are other concerns for the industry.

The report suggests that states and communities take a pause before considering future gambling ventures, impose tight restrictions on casino campaign contributions and ban sports betting on all college athletics.

All three recommendations could have a profound effect on Nevada and its casino companies.

But overall, casinos fared much better than the other segments of the gambling industry -- Indian gaming, state-run lotteries and the parimutuel industry -- all of which were hit hard by the commission's recommendations.

The American Greyhound Track Operators Association issued a news release Wednesday rapping the panel's report as "flawed" and "biased."

And tribal leaders scheduled a news conference today at the National Press Club to air their grievances.