Betting ban is still in works

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, May 3, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday said he may attach his bill that bans betting on college sports to an education spending bill now being debated on the Senate floor.

"That's something we're considering," McCain said in an interview Tuesday with the Sun. "We may not be able to get it done any other way."

McCain and other bill supporters say the legislation will help curb game-fixing by athletes and widespread illegal gambling on college campuses.

Nevada's congressional delegation has blasted the bill, saying it will not do what McCain intends. The bill also will hobble Nevada casino sports books, they say.

"It only affects Nevada, and in that sense it's an easy proposition for most senators to support, even though it will accomplish nothing," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said today. "In fact it is likely to be counterproductive in that it will drive illegal gaming back to the alleys and side streets of America."

McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, in March held hearings on his Amateur Sports Integrity Act, which would ban wagers on college sports in Nevada casinos. Nevada is the only state that allows such bets.

The committee in April approved the bill and sent it to the Senate floor. Since then Bryan and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have been watching McCain closely to assess his strategy.

Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., a sometime rival of McCain, has said there may not be time this session to debate the legislation as a free-standing bill.

But McCain could tack his legislation onto another bill. And the Senate this week is debating a likely vehicle: a bill targeting education spending and reform, McCain said Tuesday.

McCain said he was adamant about pursuing the bill because the Congress-ordered National Gambling Impact Study Commission last year found that gambling is rampant on college campuses.

"I've talked with college coaches, and all of them have indicated to me that this needs to be adopted," McCain said.

Bryan said McCain's bill is popular enough to be accepted as an amendment. But other senators also are eyeing the education bill as a vehicle for amendments of their own. Ultimately that could hurt the legislation's chances.

"The bill may carry so much freight it could sink because of its own weight, unrelated to the NCAA provision," Bryan said.

Reid agreed.

"We do have a strategy if he adds this," Reid said, without revealing it. "It's a shame, we need to deal with education. It's things like this that will sink the (education) bill. I don't know why the majority leaders can't control their own members."

McCain's move was inappropriate, said Wayne Mehl, a Washington lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association.

"It's disappointing that he is going to use an important bill like this one to push forward his own agenda for anti-gambling legislation," Mehl said.

The Senate continued debate on the education bill today. Debate could stretch into next week. The Senate is not in session Friday.

The House has not taken action on the gambling ban bill. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has said Republican majority leaders have little desire to debate the bill this session.