Gaming companies urging employees to vote

Kirsten Searer

Monday, Aug. 2, 2004 | 10:53 a.m.

Still stinging from political losses during the last legislative session, several gaming companies are looking this year to strengthen their political clout.

It's no longer enough to shuttle lobbyists to Carson City or for executives or political action committees to donate money to campaigns.

In recent months, several companies have stepped up efforts to register their tens of thousands of employees and produce voter guides on candidates and issues.

Two of the state's largest companies, MGM MIRAGE and Station Casinos, are taking company time to bus employees to early voting sites.

"The last Legislature raised awareness in in the industry," said Jan Jones, Harrah's senior vice president for communications and government relations. "We have thousands of employees. It's important to educate, register and mobilize these employees."

Last year's legislative session was tough for the gaming community, which lobbied for a broad-based business tax instead of the payroll tax finally created.

"A number of companies are approaching the political process differently," said Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association.

The aftermath of that political loss is still being felt, even in Bible's association, the industry's state lobbying arm. Harrah's, still waiting to complete its planned merger with Caesars Entertainment, could pull out of the association, though it has not yet announced a decision.

The company would join MGM MIRAGE, which will be the other giant in town if its planned purchase of Mandalay Resort Group goes through, in pulling out of the Nevada Resort Association and instead using in-house lobbyists.

"There may be more effective ways to invest our political capital," Jones said.

That, in combination with a coordinated grassroots effort among its employees, might be more effective than paying for lobbying rights through the association, Jones said.

Statewide, gaming companies are the largest employers, with about 25.8 percent of the workforce, according to the Nevada Resort Association.

Eleven of the top 15 employers in the state are gaming companies, according to the group.

It's common for the major economic players in states to mobilize their employees, said Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College.

But the recently announced mergers of MGM MIRAGE with Mandalay Resort Group, and of Harrah's Entertainment with Caesars Entertainment, will make it easier for gaming companies to communicate their message, he said.

"You can do that effort in Clark County and have an overall impact on state turnout," Lokken said. "I'm surprised they haven't done it before now."

MGM MIRAGE has had a voter turnout program in place for more than a decade, said spokesman Alan Feldman. This is the first year the company will provide transportation to early voting sites.

Feldman argues that voter registration drives help MGM MIRAGE's 40,000 employees feel like a part of their community.

"It will make them feel better about themselves, it will make them feel better about their community," he said.

While the company puts out a voter guide for employees, Feldman said that doesn't mean the employees will follow it.

"The notion that all employees from one company vote one way is ridiculous," he said. "That just doesn't happen."

Boyd Gaming Corp., which recently merged with Coast Casinos, is in the midst of a voter registration drive but will not shuttle employees to election sites, said Gina Polovina, vice president of government and community affairs.

But the most involved effort might come from Station Casinos, which has about 11,000 employees.

"They have a lot of power in their hands," said Lesley Pittman, Station Casinos vice president of corporate and government relations. "I think the industry as a whole does."

Station Casinos is registering voters, sending them voter guides in the mail and taking them to election sites. And, Pittman added, it's all legal -- they checked.

Even more, the company has put out a guide on government that educates employees on how the government works.

In employee areas of casinos, posters in English and Spanish encourage employees to take advantage of their democratic rights.

While Station Casinos does choose candidates in its voter guide based on several criteria, including their views on gaming, Pittman said the company assures employees they are not obligated to vote one way or another.

Already, the company has registered between 300 and 400 employees, Pittman said.

"It's just nothing more than a guide," she said. "Certainly we don't get into the business of telling our team members how to vote."