McCain to revive bet ban effort

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has drawn up his to-do list for the next Congress, and it includes a ban on betting on college sports.

As Republicans regain control of the Senate in January, McCain will reclaim the chairmanship of the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over sports issues.

And McCain spokeswoman Pia Pialorsi said the reform-minded Arizona lawmaker has "absolutely not" given up on legislation to outlaw wagers on college sports in the one state where the bets are legal: Nevada.

The legislation, which has foundered since it first surfaced in 1999, appeared on a Commerce Committee priority list for next year, which McCain released Thursday.

McCain and other proponents of a ban say the bill ultimately could curb game-fixing, in part because they believe Nevada sports books offer game-fixing bookies a place to lay off bets. More broadly, they believe it is unseemly to bet on college students and that Nevada and Nevada-based odds-makers create a kind of framework for rampant illegal gambling nationwide.

The bill previously stalled in the face of opposition from Nevada lawmakers and gaming industry officials. They say it would unfairly hurt casinos, and insist the bill won't solve the problems that trouble McCain.

They argue that legal, regulated bets made in Nevada account for a tiny fraction of total wagers made on college sports every year. Most wagers on college sports are made illegally outside Nevada and, increasingly, on gambling websites.

The gaming industry's top lobbyist said he planned to sit down with McCain to again urge him to consider alternative legislation aimed at reducing rampant illegal sports betting, especially by college students.

"I always expected this would come back," said Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association. "These things never seem to go away."

McCain has said it would be difficult to pass his legislation with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., blocking it from his position in the Democratic leadership. But the GOP will control Congress next year.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who sits on McCain's Commerce Committee, vowed to again orchestrate an attempt to thwart the bill.

"We'll fight it just like we did the last time," Ensign said.

Ensign, with Reid's help, corralled the support of nine other Commerce Committee members, which led to a 10-10 tie in a panel vote on the legislation in May 2001. The bill was sent to the floor under Senate rules for tie votes, but the full Senate never acted.

As for next year, Ensign said, "I feel pretty decent about (the chances) of killing it."

The ranks of bill proponents grew by at least one in the Senate when Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., won a Senate seat earlier this month. Calls to Graham's office were not returned.

Another leading supporter is Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. Brownback is a longtime friend of Ensign, but the two have not chatted recently about the bill, Ensign said.

Amy Spanbauer, spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said the bill stands little chance of being approved by the full House, Gibbons has assurances from GOP House leaders that the bill won't be subject to a vote in that chamber, Spanbauer said. She said the two authors of the House version of the bill are gone; Graham heads to the Senate and Rep. Tim Roemer, D-Ind., retired from Congress.

"We haven't heard that anyone is taking up the torch in their stead," Spanbauer said.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., also is confident that the legislation has enough opponents in the House that it won't advance to a full House vote, spokesman Michael O'Donovan said.

A major force behind the bill has been the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the association is encouraged that McCain intends to pursue the issue again, NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro said. It's not known yet if the NCAA intends to launch a lobbying push behind the bill next year, he said.

He added, "The NCAA continues to be very opposed to both illegal sports wagering and the remaining issue of legal sports wagering in Nevada."