Hatch backs bill on betting probe

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 11:22 a.m.

Casino executives this morning persuaded a prominent Republican senator to co-sponsor a Nevada bill calling for stepped-up Justice Department scrutiny of illegal sports betting across the country.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, made the commitment following a Capitol Hill meeting with Harrah's Entertainment Chief Executive and Chairman Phil Satre and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, senior vice president of government relations and communications.

"I think this is an opening for our offense," Satre told the Sun in an interview from Washington. "I think it's an important piece of support that is coming from a relatively unexpected but very influential place."

Hatch, who has not been a friend of the casino industry in the past, is the first Senate Republican to back the bill, which was introduced by Nevada's congressional delegation last month to counter the National Collegiate Athletic Association's campaign to ban betting on college sports in Nevada.

The NCAA is expecting its measure will be introduced during the organization's well-publicized "March Madness" basketball tournament, which gets under way a week from Thursday.

Jones this morning described Hatch's support for the Nevada bill as a "very good thing for Nevada.

"Orrin Hatch is a principled man," she said. "He doesn't particularly like the industry, but when he looked at the issue on its merits, he found it was the right thing to do."

Hatch could not be reached for comment this morning.

Several dozen casino executives, many from Nevada, are in Washington this week lobbying for the Nevada delegation's bill. Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., have introduced the measure in the Senate, and an identical bill has been introduced in the House by Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Satre said he was meeting with other senators today in the hopes of winning more support for the legislation.

Jones said Berkley told her that she has lined up several of her fellow Democratic colleagues on the House side, including Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, as co-sponsors.

Next week, Gibbons and Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, the industry's Washington lobby, plan to meet with Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who chairs the Judiciary Committee.

Gibbons also is looking to meet with Attorney General John Ashcroft in the near future.

The casino industry believes the NCAA should be directing its energy at eliminating illegal sports betting, which is widespread in the nation, instead of legal wagering in Nevada.

The NCAA has its own prominent supporters.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman the Senate Commerce Committee, is said to be ready to introduce the NCAA's bill in his panel.