Gaming industry again on defensive in D.C.

Tuesday, June 29, 1999 | 11:47 a.m.

Gaming opponents are expected to launch more salvos against the industry at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., the Rev. James Dobson, former pro football player and imprisoned gambling addict Art Schlichter and others have been invited to speak at the Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee hearing.

The session was called by Sen. Arlen Spector, R-Pa., to consider funding additional research into addictive gambling. But industry lobbyists said they're concerned it will be used to wage further attacks against gaming.

"We don't want this to turn into another anti-gaming circus by Frank Wolf," said Wayne Mehl, Washington lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association. "He's already suggested a 1 percent federal tax on gaming and may use this as a platform for yet another tirade."

Wolf was one of the principals behind formation of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which this month completed a two-year, $5 million study of the industry.

Dobson, leader of Focus on the Family, was a commission member who remained highly critical of the industry throughout the process and issued a blistering critique of gambling after the federal panel issued its report.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, a frequent critic of the gambling commission, sits on the subcommittee. An aide said he was "less than enthused" about the hearing.

It isn't known whether Schlichter or his wife, who testified at one of the federal panel's hearings about her husband's addiction, will appear.

The subcommittee also wants to invite Pete Rose, the former baseball star banned from the Hall of Fame because of his gambling activities, but hasn't been able to reach him.

The subcommittee will consider whether to include funds for additional gambling-addiction research in the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2000.