Regulators weigh elimination of work cards

Ryan Pearson

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada regulators on Monday discussed eliminating county-issued work cards in favor of statewide registration for casino employees -- a sweeping change that would rely on casinos policing their workers.

Workers in gambling-related positions would register through their jobs once every five years, and the state Gaming Control Board would run criminal background checks through federal and state law enforcement.

The proposal for statewide registration comes just months after the Nevada Gaming Commission implemented a statewide work card system approved by the 2001 Legislature. That program was designed to save dealers, change-makers and other casino workers time and money, by eliminating the need for multiple cards if they change jobs.

Regulators now want to get rid of the cards altogether -- saving the state costs of issuing them and transferring responsibility to casinos themselves.

Though Nevada issues only a handful of permits per year, to workers in rural areas, the board is required by state law to issue cards if local governments cease doing so.

Clark County is ending its permit program by the end of the year. Washoe County and several others have suggested they may drop their programs due to cost increases.

"We have to be prepared if that happens," Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said.

Registration could cost workers slightly more than the current $75 price of work cards in the Las Vegas area, Neilander told the Senate Finance Committee on Monday.

The registration plan will be part of a larger bill requested by the Control Board and and its parent state Gaming Commission, to be introduced in the Legislature by next week.

Neilander said the bill may be "cost-neutral" for the state even though the board would need eight new employees to process registrations. The statewide work card program would cost Nevada about $300,000 over the next two years.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has opposed the uniform work card idea as opening the door to snooping through employee files.

"We would obviously be very concerned about confidentiality" in the registration process, Neilander said.