Legislators wrestle with gambling expansion plans

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 10:10 a.m.

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Gambling is a hot issue in Alaska's capital as legislators consider a proposal to boost state revenue by allowing video gambling machines in bars and clubs.

Lawmakers are getting a barrage of phone calls and e-mails from both sides. The topic drew a standing-room-only crowd for a 7 a.m. Wednesday hearing of the House Special Committee on Ways and Means, established this session to tackle the state's huge budget gap.

"It's an issue that people are very passionate about," said Fairbanks Republican Rep. Jim Whitaker, the committee's co-chairman.

The morning hearing was a mixture of cool analysis of potential revenue and emotional claims that gambling is destructive to the community. The audience includes pull-tab gambling operators, who think video gambling would drive them out of business, and bar owners, who stand to gain.

"I got really lambasted by the pull-tab people," said Darwin Biwer, owner of the downtown Anchorage bar Darwin's Theory. Biwer was representing the Anchorage Cabaret, Hotel and Restaurant Retailers Association, which favors video gambling.

Whitaker decided after the hearing that he and several other legislators would form a special working group to consider electronic gaming. The group will meet Tuesday.