Friday, June 18, 1999
Gambling panel's report inconclusive
Slowdown sought for more study
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Faced with reams of conflicting studies and numbers that boggle the mind, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission is expected to release a 2-inch-thick report today that boils down to this:
Millions of Americans are gambling — more each day — and no one knows whether it's a good or bad thing for the country. But until they do, or at least pending further study, the commission said legalized gambling should not be allowed to grow.
“The members of this commission agree that there is a need for a pause in the growth of gambling,” the report states. “The purpose of this pause is not to wait for definitive answers to the subjects of dispute because those may never come. Instead (it) is to encourage governments to do what, to date, few, if any, have done: to survey the results of their decisions and to determine if they have chosen wisely.
“Because the search for answers takes time, some policymakers may wish to impose an explicit moratorium on gambling expansion while awaiting further research and assess ment.”
That would mean no hotel- or racetrack-based slot machines in Kentucky, and no new lottery or beefed-up lottery ad campaigns in Ohio.
For states like Indiana, where gambling already is entrenched and turning huge profits, the commission suggested a host of new regulations.
Congress created the commission in 1996 to study the impact of a growing U.S. gambling industry. In the report, the nine-member panel criticizes legalized gambling and its associated social ills, while applauding its ability to create jobs and stimulate local economies. Commissioners walk a thin line, unable to reach any clear conclusions due to a lack of comprehensive evidence.
And the commission's recommendations carry no force of law. Individual legislators in states and in Congress are left to pick up the ball or ignore it.
“The report says as much in favor of the industry as against it and, unfortunately, (commissioners) didn't come up with a strong plan for implementing its recommendations,” said Bill Thompson, professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, who studies the gambling industry.
“In the end, I think it's a status quo report.”
Yet it has activists and industry leaders on both sides of the issue reaching for their telephones, fax machines and microphones. A public debate is raging.
In one form or another, gambling is permitted in 47 states and the District of Columbia. More than $600 billion was wagered in 1998, and people lost $50 billion that year — a figure that has increased every year for more than two decades. More than 169 million Americans — more than 60 percent — said they have gambled at least once in the past year.
About $1.8 billion was spent at Indiana's nine riverboat casinos in 1998. Of that, $803 million came from Indiana residents — which is an average $136 for every man, woman and child in the state. The bulk of the balance came from neighboring states like Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois.
The American Gaming Association, along with Ohio River operators such as the Tristate's Argosy Casino Lawrenceburg and Grand Victoria Resort and Casino in Rising Sun, are touting the tax-and-spend benefits of their games. They acknowledge some social problems but say those are under control.
“I think the overall results of the (National Gambling Impact Study Commission) report were good,” said Argosy general manager Arnold Block.
“(Casinos) have a lot of positive economic impact. I think it's a confirmation that the state legislators and the local communities did something that was good” when they approved riverboat gambling.
Nine riverboats operate in Indiana. The 10th — and final — casino complex is under construction in Switzerland County, southwest of Rising Sun near the Markland Dam.
Gambling opponents, however, look at the same report and see another side.
“It's like the surgeon general's report that first came out about smoking and said there was harm to it. It's going to help us turn the tide,” said the Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. “The gambling industry has lost ground.”
Chapters of the national coalition from 13 Midwestern states will gather in Indianapolis in July to plot their strategies against gambling.
They will tout some of the commission's recommendations, including:
• No expansion of casino-style gambling into pari-mutuel racetracks for the primary purpose of saving that facility or allowing it to compete with other forms of gambling.
• Jurisdictions that are considering introducing new gambling or expanding existing games should first sponsor independent, comprehensive analysis of the economic, social and regional impacts.
• A ban on aggressive casino and lottery advertising strategies, especially those that target people in impoverished neighborhoods or youth.
• States should curtail the growth of new lottery games and limit locations for lottery machines.
• Casinos and other gambling venues should post warnings regarding the dangers of gambling, the odds of winning, and hot-line numbers for people seeking help with problem gambling.
• Political campaign contributions by entities operating or applying for permission to operate gambling facilities should be restricted.
• ATMs and credit card cash-advance machines should be banned from the immediate area where gambling takes place.
Some of the proposed restrictions fly in the face of current government and private-industry efforts.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down the ban on television and radio advertising of casino gambling in states where such gambling is legal, allowing pictures and sounds of bettors at the tables.
In Kentucky, Gov. Paul Patton recently proposed opening casinos at hotels and the owners of Turfway Park say they want to add slot machines to their venue — all in hopes of drawing gamblers away from Indiana's successful riverboats.
In Ohio, officials recently beefed up lottery advertising and some want to buy in to a multistate game.
But experts say that unless a region is a gambling destination, drawing most customers from more than 100 miles away, the spread of gambling across state lines only redistributes the same pie in smaller pieces.
“It's the competition which is driving (gambling expansion), which is really not the right reason, ” said Mark Nichols, economics professor at the University of Nevada-Reno. “I think (a moratorium on expansion) is a good idea. I think states have jumped a little too headstrong and a little too quickly into gambling as a source of revenue. And I think it needs to be looked at more carefully in terms of its social impact.
“But while I think it's a good idea, I don't think it's going to happen.”
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