These are newsgroup postings and newspaper stories ...there's a lot of text here so I've forgone adding graphics. These will change semi-regularly, to provide an update on political issues of interest in Indian Country. You may also want to check some of the links on the Native American Links page for more information.

Casinos Transform Poor US County
.c The Associated Press By DAVID L. LANGFORD 4/3/99

TUNICA, Miss. (AP) -- In the engulfing whir and hum and jingle and jangle of a thousand slot machines, accented by the occasional Rebel yell of a jackpot winner, your brain has to do a fast rewind to remember that this cavernous casino sits -- floats? -- in what was once the poorest county in the poorest state in the Union.

"Who would've ever thought it, out here in the middle of a Delta cotton field?'' muses Victor Vantore, maitre d' of the upscale Jack Binion's Steak House at the Horseshoe casino.

Having grown up on the other side of Choctaw Ridge (where Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge) I remembered Tunica as a wretched rural backwater. The monotonously flat and treeless cotton and soybean fields stretching to the horizon were worked by miserably poor sharecroppers and field hands, many of whom lived in a squalid slum called "Sugar Ditch'' for the open sewer running through the neighborhood.

For good reason, this corner of the Mississippi Delta was the birthplace of the blues, the mother of people like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Gatemouth Brown and Pinetop Perkins. They put to music the wails of the plowboys and cotton pickers out sweating in the scorching Mississippi sun.

In 1985, the Rev. Jesse Jackson led a group of reporters to Sugar Ditch and labeled Tunica County "America's Ethiopia.''

Well, Sugar Ditch is long gone now, replaced by a 37-unit subsidized apartment building for the elderly and handicapped, part of a transformation in the 1990s dubbed the "Tunica Miracle.''

Driving after nightfall down from Memphis, Tenn., on newly four-laned U.S. 61, cutting arrow-straight through miles and miles of plowed-under cotton stalks, I was astonished by an apparition up ahead. It looked like Disney World in the darkness of the Delta -- buildings glowing, lights twinkling, searchlights sweeping the sky.

The glow was coming from Tunica County's nine world-class, big-name, floating gambling casinos out near the Mississippi River levee, linked by well-lighted, four-lane roadways.

I felt like comedienne Joan Rivers, who asked the first time she stepped onto a Tunica casino stage, "Where the (bleep) am I?''

It may not be widely known beyond mid-America, but Tunica today is major league. Drawing 40,000 to 60,000 customers a day, the area's casinos, with 13,535 slot machines and 522 gaming tables, took in just under $1 billion in 1998, making this the third-largest gambling center in the country, behind only Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

As Memphis magazine put it, "Not since the glory days of Ole Miss football coach John Vaught and the heyday of Southern Democrats in Washington's seniority system has Mississippi enjoyed such national prominence in anything besides John Grisham novels and the poverty index.''

In fiscal 1995, the last year for which figures are available, the Tunica casinos paid more than $85 million in state, city and county taxes.

The AAA Auto Club South and the Travel Industry Association of America, in their annual predictions on summer travel, list Tunica County as one of their "hot spots.''

The casinos have created 15,000 new jobs in a county of just 9,500 men, women and children. Moreover, casino workers get medical insurance and other benefits whereas farm workers get none.

In January 1992, the year gambling came to Tunica County, unemployment here was at 26.2 percent. Today it's down to 5.6 percent. Per capita income rose from $11,856 in 1992 to $18,045 in 1995. The number of people receiving food stamps fell 56 percent between 1992 and 1997.

The beneficiaries are people like Gary Tyler, 22, who once worked for $4.25 an hour, then the minimum wage, at a fast-food joint. He's now a barback, an apprentice bartender, at a casino lounge. While his salary is just $5.50 an hour, "on a good night I'll pick up $80 to $100 in tips.''

That's not to say everyone has benefited. There are still pockets of hopeless poverty in Tunica County, and some who once had money are now broke. There have been at least two reported suicides since the casinos opened.

In the local parlance, "Their money's gone down to the boats.''

For all Tunica's outward trappings of wealth, some believe casino legislation, approved 22-20 by the state Senate in 1990, wouldn't survive a floor vote today.

Former state Rep. H.L. "Sonny'' Merideth of the river town of Greenville, who as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee was a supporter of legalized gambling, now has second thoughts. "Those places take more local money out of the community than I ever dreamed of,'' he says. "People in those places are gambling dollars that should be spent on food, clothes and shelter.''

Legislation that would allow state colleges and universities to train casino workers has failed to pass in the past two sessions of the legislature, thanks to the opposition of people such as Paul Jones, executive director of the Christian Action Commission of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

On my first night out, at Bally's Saloon, Gambling Hall & Hotel, I met Beth Gerard of Senatobia when I heard a slot machine spitting out quarters like the U.S. mint. She had just hit her second jackpot of the night, bringing her winnings to $1,100.

The 25-year-old brunette, with the looks of a Mississippi State cheerleader, formerly worked here for two years as a cocktail waitress, shuttling free drinks to the players. She says she averaged about $1,000 a week, mostly in tips.

"You make good money, but you have to put up with a lot,'' she says.

Catching her drift, I ask if prostitution is a problem around the casinos.

Shaking her head, she replies in a melodious drawl that only Mississippi women can manage, "I think everybody goes to Memphis for that.''

Indeed, in three days and nights of cruising the casinos I spotted not one woman I took to be a "working girl''; not one proposition, no single women hanging around the bars.

The fact is, about the only skirts you'll see around here are those skimpy minis worn by the cocktail waitresses. The women all wear pants, and if you see a man in a suit, he's probably a floorwalker.

Maybe the working girls hang on the fringes. In mid-March, the owner of the Club Sigg nightclub in the town of Tunica, Van H. Siggers, was arrested on charges of distributing cocaine and marijuana and with transporting prostitutes across the state line to engage in "nude dancing, prostitution ... and other sex acts.''

Still, this is mid-America, folks. The casino patrons are overwhelmingly middle-class white, fortyish to elderly, gray-haired women in jeans or pant suits, potbellied men wearing baseball caps and windbreakers. They come in droves by car and tour bus from as far away as Chicago.

One old lady was seen maneuvering around the casino floor with a walker. Another was playing the slots with a tube leading from her nose to a portable oxygen tank, even though people were smoking all around her. Casinos have no no-smoking areas.

By law, Tunica's casinos are riverboats, but they're boats in name only. They sit on barges floating in slips cut into the river flats near the Mississippi. Their ancillary hotels, restaurants and other buildings are on dry land. Walking from a hotel or souvenir shop into a casino, it's hard to tell where the land stops and the riverboat begins. There is no motion. The only clue is a slight bump under the carpet where the two are joined.

Why must they float? Mississippi towns along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi traditionally have offered tourists lively night life, with open bars and back-room gambling even when the entire state was legally dry. The state tax collector even collected a black market tax on the sale of this illegal liquor, and the local law officers simply looked the other way.

The riverboat law was an effort to restrict the casinos to the Coast and river and away from the more conservative inland areas. Today, when other counties or states start talking about legalizing gambling, the Tunica casino crowd joins forces with the preachers to put it down.

The casinos represent gambling's heavyweights -- Bally's, Fitzgerald's, Gold Strike, The Grand, Harrah's, Hollywood, Horseshoe, Sheraton and Sam's Town. Their elaborate facades and themed decor remind one of their counterparts on the Las Vegas Strip. The themes include an Irish castle (with moat), an Old West town, a Southern plantation and a German hunting lodge.

It's surreal in a way, the size of these places. At the Hollywood casino a downsized replica of the sinking Titanic used as a prop in the filming of the movie now lies in a 500,000-gallon indoor pool of water.

In 1992, when Tunica got its first casino, there were only 16 motel rooms in the county. Now there are just under 6,000. There were no golf courses. Now there are two.

The casinos offer live entertainment nightly with headliners ranging from Jay Leno to Bill Cosby to Ray Charles to Kenny Rogers.

Bally's has a 250-seat nightclub built into an authentic grain silo. The decibel level is off the charts.

At the bar in Bally's, where there's a video poker game embedded in the counter top in front of each stool, I ordered a Diet Coke and asked, "How much?''

"Whatever you'd like to leave,'' the bartender replies.

So, to look like a sport, I started dropping quarters in the blackjack machine in front of me.

The Coke wound up costing me $10.

Blackjack croupier Linda Davis, 48, used to work at a casino on the Choctaw Indian reservation in Philadelphia, Miss. She now commutes from West Memphis, Ark., about 50 miles away, to work the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift. With the dealers splitting their tips, she says she makes $31,000 to $38,000 a year.

Why put up with such a long commute and awful hours?

"I like the casino atmosphere,'' she says.

Donald Hampton must like it, too. Every three or four weeks he drives down from Poplar Bluff, Mo. This night he had just hit a $750 payoff on the $1 slots and was standing up waiting for his payoff.

I ask him what's the biggest jackpot he's ever hit. It was $2,250.

"Are you ahead?'' I ask.

"Do you ever get ahead of it?'' he asks back.

Gambling Panel Debates Casinos
.c The Associated Press By LAURENCE ARNOLD 4/8/99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Possible restrictions on money-lending and cash-dispensing in casinos drew interest Thursday from a federal commission on gambling.

Commission members also criticized Indian tribes for failing to provide information on their gambling operations. Only three of the nation's 20 largest tribes that offer gambling completed a questionnaire from the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

The nine-member commission will release a report in June on the economic and social effects of legalized gambling. Seven members participated in Thursday's meeting to discuss possible conclusions and recommendations.

Leading the effort to restrict casino operations was commissioner James Dobson, president of Colorado-based Focus on the Family.

He proposed removing cash machines from gambling floors to force "cooling-off periods'' for losing bettors, as well as limiting the ability of casinos of lending money and cash checks.

Dobson also suggested casino display signs warning that gambling can be addictive.

The casino industry's chief lobbyist in Washington, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., countered that many casinos already post signs with phone numbers for compulsive gambling hot lines.

As for abolishing automatic teller machines from casino floors, Fahrenkopf asked: "Does that mean that every 7-Eleven in America that sells lottery tickets can't have an ATM in there?''

As for Indian gambling, commissioners said most tribes have refused to answer their questions.

Only three of the 20 largest tribes with gambling operations complied, compared with all of the nation's 20 leading revenue-producing commercial casinos, said commissioner Leo McCarthy, a former lieutenant governor of California.

Jacob Coin, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, said most tribes believe the questionnaire violates their right to shield proprietary information.

Commissioner Paul Moore, a Mississippi radiologist, said the chapter on Indian gambling would urge tighter federal restrictions on the type of gambling offered by Indian tribes, as well as more disclosure about money made from gambling and how it is spent.

The commission found common ground on the topic of gambling via the Internet, supporting legislation now before Congress that would outlaw the activity.

On the topic of advertising, commission deputy director John Shosky noted that the U.S. Supreme Court soon will rule on a challenge to a federal ban on television and radio ads by commercial casinos.

Commission member John Wilhelm, general president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, suggested the commission consider recommendations for responsible advertising practices, should the court strike down the ban.

Tribal Government Leaders Meet in Los Angeles With Governor, Attorney General and New Tribal-State Compact Appointee
c. BUSINESS WIRE April 9, 1999

LOS ANGELES---More than 50 tribal government representatives gathered Friday in the Ronald Reagan Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles for an unprecedented meeting with California Gov. Gray Davis, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the governor's newly appointed liaison for tribal-state compact discussions, Judge William Norris.

The following is a statement on the meeting from California Nations Indian Gaming Association Chairman Daniel Tucker:

On behalf of the tribal leaders and members of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association representing this state's federally recognized Indian tribes, I have expressed our appreciation to Gov. Gray Davis, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Judge William Norris for holding this very significant and important introductory meeting. We believe today's meeting signals the beginning of meaningful discussions on implementation of tribal-gaming compacts.

This is the first time in the history of the state that a California governor has met with gaming, as well as nongaming tribes, on a government-to-government basis to begin authentic dialogue and to build a legitimate framework for compacting.

Our respective governments have come together to implement the will of the people of California. More than 5 million people -- 63 percent of the electorate -- gave overwhelming voter approval to Proposition 5 last November, and sent a direct message to state leadership that tribal gaming on Indian lands is to be protected. This is the first meeting between tribal governments and the state of California since the passage of Prop. 5 and is a reflection of the voters' mandate. We applaud the Governor for his efforts.

The tribes of California have waited a long time for this day. The tribes made history with Prop. 5 when 88 federally recognized California Indian tribes representing 97 percent of Indians on reservations came together to support Prop 5. These tribes, small and large, gaming and nongaming were united in the fundamental goal of Prop. 5 -- Indian self-reliance.

The overwhelming majority of California's gaming and nongaming tribes have elected the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) to serve as a central conduit for the governor's office to use for communications and coordination of tribal-state compact discussions and activities.

We look forward to working with the Governor, Attorney General and Judge Norris to conclude Class III gaming compacts as soon as possible. Executing tribal-state compacts that use the same terms and provisions outlined under Prop. 5 will allow California Indian tribes to continue to offer limited, regulated gaming on tribal lands. Gaming that provides needed jobs and funds education, health care, cultural preservation and other crucial services for tribal members.

The compacts will create a fair, reasonable plan for regulation of Indian gaming in California, and will establish stringent rules and regulations for the operation of tribal gaming.

We believe Gov. Davis will bring all parties together and heal the wounds that have festered for far too long between California Indian tribes and the state. This is a new day, a new era, and all of us welcome this new beginning.

When California tribes are no longer under threat to close the very gaming operations that keep them off welfare; when tribes finally sign lasting agreements with the state that resolve the legal roadblocks, it will be a great day. There is nothing now that prevents the state and California tribes from completing the final steps and making that day a reality.

CONTACT: CNIGA Office, 916/448-8706 or Cerrell Associates Inc. Sarah Cheaure or Shannon Johnson, 323/466-3445

Fla., Ala., Sue Federal Government
.c The Associated Press By JEFFREY McMURRAY 4/13/99

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida officials have sued the federal government, seeking to block new rules they fear could lead to Las Vegas-style casinos on the state's Indian reservations.

The suit, which Alabama joined as a co-plaintiff, came in response to rules approved Monday that allow Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to settle gambling-related disputes that tribes can't work out with the states.

In such an impasse, Babbitt would act as a final judge. Such cases include current plans for casinos by Florida's Seminole and Miccousukee tribes; both tribe's proposals have been resisted by state officials.

In filing the suit, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Babbitt's newly granted powers conflict with his role as a trustee for the tribes.

"In effect, one federal bureaucrat can defy the wishes of elected state officials, and more important, the millions they represent,'' Butterworth said at a news conference.

Gov. Jeb Bush called the federal rules an attack on Florida's sovereignty, and said he hopes other states will join the suit.

Gambling halls on some Indian land offer high-stakes bingo, low-stakes poker and electronic slot machines, but state law prohibits roulette wheels, blackjack tables and other casino-type games.

Floridians have long resisted Las Vegas-style gambling. In three elections since 1978, voters have rejected casino initiatives, and Bush has vehemently fought expanded gambling, even turning away an offer for Florida to join the multi-state Powerball game.

Interior Department spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna said the lawsuit came as no surprise, and that Babbitt believes the question should ultimately be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I think we would make sure it was a fair and unbiased process, but I guess everybody's entitled to their opinion,'' Hanna said.

Mohegan Sun Warms Up Northeast US Gambling:

Bloomberg Forum c. Bloomberg April 19, 1999

Mohegan Sun, the third- largest U.S. casino, is sending chills through other gambling enclaves as the Uncasville, Connecticut, casino concentrates on repeat business and refines its marketing.

"We've grown the customer base of gambling in the Northeast,'' Mitchell Etess, senior marketing vice president at Mohegan Sun, told the Bloomberg Forum. Atlantic City, New Jersey, which competes with Indian casinos in the Northeast U.S., "has changed its marketing, become much more competitive, in response to us.''

Rival Foxwoods Resort Casino, run by the Mashantucket-Pequot Tribal Nation, the largest casino in the world with revenue of about $1 billion a year, and Mohegan Sun's neighbor in southeastern Connecticut, said business has dropped since Mohegan Sun opened two years ago.

Etess said a casino is like a marketing laboratory: "We can see results right away. We don't have to wait for market-share reports.'' That immediate feedback has shaped the casino's $10 million advertising campaign.

"We talk about the fun and excitement of the experience, about our employees, which we know builds repeat business and about how easy we are to get to. There's not a stop light from New York City or Boston here: just four-lane highway.''

Mohegan Sun also uses direct marketing. "We know who our guests are,'' he said. "When we send out a promotion, they line up.''

Etess said 22 million adults live within 150 miles of the casino. While Mohegan Sun is now primarily a day market, expansion plans including hotels as well as convention and retail space, a large arena and more gaming facilities should increase the length of visits. That should also pump up the average amount patrons lose -- currently $60 to 80 a day.

House of Games

Slot machines represent 66 to 70 percent of Mohegan Sun revenue. Its most popular table game is blackjack. It caters to the Asian market with baccarat and varieties of poker and offers Casino War, a version of the child's card game. About 25 percent of Mohegan Sun's slot revenue goes to the state.

The casino is a joint enterprise of the tribe and South African casino mogul Sol Kerzner and his Sun International Hotels Ltd. Kerzner's investment helped persuade others to buy $175 million in bonds to create Mohegan Sun.

Designer David Rockwell, known for fashioning Planet Hollywood International Inc.'s cafes, then turned a submarine- parts factory into a Disney-esque re-creation of the forests the Mohegans ruled for nearly two centuries.

For Native Americans, a louder voice
By Gregory Wright c. Gannett News Service 5/14/99

WASHINGTON - Medical care is so bad on his reservation, Montana Blackfoot George Horse Capture Jr. says, that a friend had to wait three years to find out his constant stomach pains were caused by cancer. By the time his friend went to a doctor outside the reservation for the diagnosis, the cancer was terminal, Horse Capture says. Horse Capture and more than 400 other Native Americans traveled from around the nation to the west steps of the Capitol this week to protest what they say is continued poor federal spending on medical care, education and law enforcement on tribal lands. Native Americans are also angered that legislation has popped up in Congress that could erode the ability of tribes to govern their own reservations and make money through ventures such as gambling. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the only Native American serving in Congress, says the National Congress of American Indians rally shows that once-marginalized Indians are now flexing political muscle. Gambling and other economic activities on Indian lands have also given some tribes the money to get involved in politics, he says. After the rally, group members planned to pace the halls of Congress, urging lawmakers to turn back legislation that may harm the interests of Native Americans. They are asking lawmakers to honor Native American treaties - many of which date back more than a century - that promise the government will respect Native American rights. "The corporate boardrooms and the law degrees are the new way for us to protect ourselves," Campbell said at the rally. The nation's Native Americans make up less than 1% of the U.S. population. But unemployment on some reservations hovers well above the national average at almost 50% and social problems such as alcoholism and high infant mortality are rampant. But Native Americans are also becoming more concerned by legislation in Congress and state governments that may erode their sovereignty rights. Perry Beaver, principal chief of the Muscogee Creek Nation near Okmulgee, Okla., accuses his state of trying to get the power to administer wills on tribal lands, something that is now handled by tribal governments. Oklahoma officials maintain the change is needed because tribal governments have not been quick and efficient in settling wills. Although federal and state lawmakers have said legislation targeted at Native Americans is designed to make positive changes on reservations, Indian officials are suspicious. They accuse Congress and states of trying to steal their rights just at a time when Indians are trying to wield real political and economic power. According to National Congress of American Indians officials: * Legislation is included in the fiscal 1999 supplemental spending bill that will likely make it more difficult for American Indian tribes to settle disputes with states over gambling issues. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission next month is also scheduled to give a report to Congress that Native American officials said may be biased against gambling on American Indian reservations, opening the way for restrictive legislation, the group claimed. * There have been calls in Congress to levy federal taxes on the revenue of tribal governments, which could hamper the ability of tribes to provide much-needed services to their members. * Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., this year will introduce legislation to allow state government officials to go on tribal land to collect taxes owed on cigarette and fuel sales to nontribe members. Indian tribes have said this legislation would violate their sovereignty. "They are not looking for a handout."

Report Explores Gambling Pros, Cons
.c The Associated Press By LAURENCE ARNOLD 5/7/99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A draft report prepared for a federal commission calls gambling addiction a "significant'' problem and youth gambling "startling.'' Yet it also depicts casinos as a uniquely effective economic tool, particularly for Indian tribes.

The "most startling and unexpected conclusion'' of the commission's two years of work, the report says, is how little is known about the gambling industry's economic and social impact.

The draft report totaling 283 pages was released this week after the General Services Administration instructed the commission that it was a public document. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., a critic of the commission, had asked the GSA to look into whether the commission was wrong in keeping the draft private.

Many of the draft chapters have already been changed, and there will be further additions and revisions before the commission submits its report to Congress June 18. One hotly debated recommendation added to the report since the drafts were written calls on state, local and tribal governments to consider imposing a moratorium on gambling expansion.

Even as a work in progress, however, the draft report provides indications of where the commission is heading after two years of study.

In most places, the draft report reads more like an encyclopedia than an opinion. But on some issues, the report takes strong positions.

On youth gambling, the draft report says: `"The conclusion is startling but confirmed by every study: our children are gamblers. They gamble before leaving high school. As adolescents, they participate in lotteries and other forms of gambling that are illegal in most states.''

On advertising practices of state lotteries, it says: "Many advertisements emphasize luck over hard work, instant gratification over prudent investment, and entertainment over savings.''

On the relevant research the commission found on gambling, the report says: "As a commission we found insufficient data on gambling's overall impact on unemployment, property crime, murder, suicide, indebtedness, bankruptcy, business disruption or family breakups.''

"We found that many state and local governments, and Indian nations, were prepared to further expand gambling activities, as they had already, with a shocking lack of knowledge about the impact on their own citizens,'' the report says.

On the positive side, the draft report finds casinos to be "an important source of entertainment, jobs and income'' and distinguishes traditional casinos from what the commission considers a more worrisome trend, the proliferation of "convenience gambling'' in the form of slot machines or video terminals in neighborhood stores or restaurants.

Also, a draft chapter on Indian gambling concludes that tribal casinos play an essential role in economic development on reservations.

``Federal policy-makers have sought for generations to identify means (other than gaming) to advance Indian economies, with a notable lack of success,'' the draft chapter says. "There was no evidence presented to the commission suggesting any viable approach to economic development across the broad spectrum of Indian country, in the absence of gaming.''

The draft report was written by the commission's staff. When the commission's nine members met in Washington recently to review the draft, many of them complained that their proposals had not been included.

Some commissioners also objected that the report seemed biased against gambling.

Commissioner and gambling proponent John Wilhelm, general president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, said the drafts were "one-sided'' because they failed to recognize the economic benefits that gambling brings to communities.

Senate bill expands gambling, but raises legal age for bets
by Robert Whereatt c. Minnesota Star Tribune May 11, 1999

The Minnesota Senate voted Monday to raise the age for gambling to 19, increasing by one year the legal threshold for buying a State Lottery ticket or a pulltab or placing a parimutuel bet at Canterbury Park. While increasing the legal gambling age, the Senate also voted to increase gambling offerings by authorizing card games at Canterbury Park racetrack, mixing poker with the ponies. The age increase was approved on a 40-23 vote, while the card club provisions for the Shakopee track passed 38-27. The legislation now goes to a Senate-House conference committee. The House version contains neither of the features approved Monday by the Senate, though at least two of the three House members on the conference committee favor the card club at Canterbury. The House and Senate earlier this month approved bills that would permit tavern patrons to roll dice for food and drinks. The House bill also would allow rolling for cash. Rep. Phil Carruthers, DFL-Brooklyn Center, said the Legislature "is engaged in a silent expansion of gambling. It's doing it on issues that don't get the attention -- like slots [do] -- but it's definitely an expansion." The seemingly contradictory policy changes -- raising the gambling age and expanding gambling -- were hailed separately and for different reasons by those who oppose gambling and by those who want card games at Canterbury. Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, said his group was heartened by the Senate's vote to raise the gambling age. "We'd like to see it at 21, but it's a step in the right direction," he said. Betty George, executive director of the Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling, called the age hike "very positive. It's part of the debate on underage gambling." The amendment to increase the gambling age was proposed by Sen. Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick. "I had a son who was a compulsive gambler," she said after the debate. He successfully underwent treatment for it, she added. The extra year before teenagers can legally gamble, she said, will give them "a cushion of time" to mature and, perhaps, deal with pressures and temptations. George Andersen, director of the State Lottery, said the age increase would not put much of a financial dent in his operation. He estimates that about 1 percent of all Lottery players are 18-year-olds, accounting for about $3.5 million in sales a year. "It's very minimal," he said of the youngest legal gamblers. "They go to casinos." Casinos unaffected While the age increase would affect several forms of gambling, it would not touch casino gambling on Indian reservations. Bowing to the limited sovereignty of Indian tribes, the bill directs the governor to ask each of the 11 tribes to raise their age of admission. John McCarthy, executive director the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, said the tribes would consider such requests. "In the past the tribes have always been open to any suggestions from the state," McCarthy said. Tribes and the state set an admission age of 18 for casinos in compacts, the agreements between the tribes and state that govern Indian-run gambling. "They thought 18 was appropriate at that time," said McCarthy. The age of admission to Indian casinos in Wisconsin is 21. It was raised from 18 last year during renegotiation of the compacts, said Jim Haney, a spokesman for the Wisconsin attorney general's office. The legal age for all other forms of gambling in Wisconsin remains 18, Haney said. The Canterbury Park card games bill would permit up to 50 tables at which patrons could play poker and other card games. The legislation does not specify which games would be allowed and which would not. The track would take a portion of each pot, and some of that money would go to purses, the winning pots for horse owners, trainers, jockeys and other personnel. Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, chief sponsor of the card club provision, told his Senate colleagues that the addition of card games would help the privately owned racetrack, the horse industry and agriculture. Vickerman said the track could receive as much as $5 million a year from the card operation. He also said card games at the track don't signal an expansion of gambling because parimutuel gambling already exists there. A House vote on the the card club authorization failed last week, but Canterbury Park lobbyists were working Monday to pick up extra votes. Rep. Mike Osskopp, R-Lake City, a member of the conference committee who favors the card club, said Monday he does not support the 19-year-old gambling age provision. "There are 18-year-olds who are flying Apache helicopters," he said, apparently a reference to the war in Yugoslavia. "If they're old enough to go to war, you're old enough to gamble." While Osskopp may not like the age increase, keeping it in the bill could woo some votes from reluctant House members who might consider raising the age more important than adding poker games at Canterbury.

State-Approved Gambling on the Rise
By LAURENCE ARNOLD c. AP May 17, 1999

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the roughly three weeks since a federal commission broached the idea of a moratorium on gambling expansion, several states have taken steps toward new lotteries and casinos. Massachusetts, Kentucky and West Virginia would have casinos for the first time, and Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama would go heavily into the lottery business. In that same short time span, Rhode Island' s state lottery commission has stood by its decision to allow additional slot machines at a jai alai court and a dog track. Illinois legislators discussed a plan to allow a riverboat casino in Cook County, home to Chicago and heretofore off-limits to casinos. And in California, leaders of more than 60 American Indian tribes opened negotiations with the state for compacts to allow gambling. State-approved gambling still has momentum after two decades of rapid growth. Even if the National Gambling Impact Study Commission formally recommends applying the brakes, there is no guarantee that expansion will slow down. A bare majority of the nine-member commission approved a controversial sentence in the panel' s draft report: " Some policy-makers at all levels may want to impose an explicit moratorium on gambling expansion while awaiting further research and assessment." Some commissioners favor the weaker word " pause" rather than " moratorium." The panel was resuming the debate today at a meeting in Washington. Its report to Congress, the White House, state governors and leaders of nativeAmerican tribes is due June 18. Regardless of the final wording, there is reason to doubt whether any states, local governments or Indian tribes will voluntarily heed the commission' s warning and stop or delay their courting of legalized gambling. Throughout the country, gambling proponents voice the same argument: Why should we draw the line while our neighbors rake in the revenue? Tennessee state Sen. Ward Crutchfield, who is pushing to amend the state constitution to allow a lottery, said: " Mississippi got one, Georgia got one. We' re surrounded by states that are prospering from some type of gambling." Home rule also is an issue. " There is an attitude prevalent in West Virginia, probably not different than in many places, that we do our own thing. Around here we talk about the ' pride of the mountaineer spirit, ' not a commission in Washington, " said the Rev. Nathan Wilson, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Churches. He opposes a proposal to create the state' s first full-service casino at the famed Greenbrier resort hotel. The very day the gambling commission debated using the word " moratorium" in its report, Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton floated the idea of introducing casinos throughout his state to raise money for historic preservation and the horse-racing industry. In Massachusetts, lawmakers are weighing a proposal to allow one casino in each of three counties. State Sen. James Jajuga, sponsor of the proposal, said a recent study showed that Massachusetts residents are spending $620 million a year at two Indian casinos in neighboring Connecticut. Jajuga said the commission' s call for a moratorium " wouldn' t really inhibit or hamper my efforts." To some, calling for a gambling " pause" now is like shutting the barn door after the horses are out. Gambling analyst Jason Ader, senior managing director at Bear Stearns brokerage, says most of the expansion has already taken place. If nothing else, though, a strongly worded report by the commission could lend ammunition to gambling opponents in states and cities where lotteries or casinos are under consideration. Just recently, a Louisiana state legislator who proposed shutting down the state lottery cited the gambling commission' s concerns that 5 percent of lottery players account for 50 percent of the money spent. Dick Thomas of the Northern Illinois Task Force Against the Expansion of Gambling has been invoking the commission' s work in the battle against a proposed riverboat casino in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb. And spurred by the commission' s debate, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum called for a statewide moratorium on more Indian casinos. It' s time to declare " enough is enough, " he said last week. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Panel Favors Gambling Regulations
.c The Associated Press By LAURENCE ARNOLD 5/18/99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal commission has decided to recommend that governments require "gambling impact statements'' -- akin to the environmental impact statements required of developers -- before approving new or additional casinos, slot machines or lotteries.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission also may urge states to ban campaign contributions from gambling interests, using New Jersey's ban as a model.

Like developers' environmental statements, gambling impact statements would predict the economic and social effects of gambling not just in the city or town considering gambling facilities but throughout the region.

Commissioner Robert Loescher, an Alaska businessman, objected to the idea as anti-business. "This becomes a holdup. This becomes a delay,'' Loescher said.

Commissioner John Wilhelm, general president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, agreed that the statements would slow the approval process. But he added: "I don't think that's bad.''

In a two-day meeting that ended Tuesday, the nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission also adopted restrictions aimed at state lotteries. Among other steps, the commission's report will recommend that federal truth-in-advertising laws apply to lottery ads and that states stop offering video poker or similar games as part of their lotteries.

George Andersen, president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, said lotteries are well regulated by states and have been treated unfairly by the commission.

"We're astonished at this late date that they have seemingly read nothing that we sent and at (their) continued level of narrow-minded bias,'' Andersen said.

The commission also discussed, but tabled, a rebuke of American Indian casinos.

Most tribes that run casinos refused to fill out a commission survey because they said the information requested was private. Members of the commission opted not to subpoena the information but promised to make clear their displeasure in the report.

"I'm one of those who believe you don't always hide behind the law,'' said commissioner Paul Moore, a Mississippi radiologist and neighbor of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

The commission considered a recommendation calling for creation of a new panel, "with full subpoena power,'' to look specifically at Indian gambling. The idea was discarded after Loescher, an Indian, objected to singling out tribal casinos.

The commission has one final two-day session left before submitting a report to Congress, the White House, state governors and leaders of Indian tribes on June 18.

Among commission recommendations approved for the report:

Automated teller machines should be banned from the area where betting takes place at casinos or race tracks.

State lotteries should not move into casino-style instant games such as slot machines and video poker.

States should not allow casino-style gambling to be introduced at horse tracks or other pari-mutuel facilities for the primary purpose of bailing out economically strapped facilities or competing with other forms of gambling.

States should stop the proliferation of "convenience gambling'' outlets, such as video gambling machines in neighborhood stores.

So-called "cruises to nowhere'' should be prohibited unless states from which the boats originate specifically allow them by law.

Congress should amend truth-in-advertising laws to cover American Indian gambling and state lotteries.

One proposal adopted by the commission Monday -- to end legalized gambling on collegiate sports -- drew fire from Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

Sports gambling is legal in Nevada and Oregon.

"The anti-gaming forces on this commission made a ridiculous recommendation that will never be accepted by Congress or the casinos in Nevada,'' Gibbons said. He called the recommendation "a clear violation of states' rights.''

Unions Seek Tribal Casino Workers
.c The Associated Press By MICHELLE DeARMOND 5/22/99

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In a move reminiscent of the labor campaigns that empowered auto, steel and farm workers decades ago, unions are trying to organize employees at casinos on Indian reservations, a campaign that could test the limits of tribal sovereignty.

Indian casinos have witnessed striking growth over the past 10 years, pulling tribes out of poverty and creating jobs for an estimated 80,000 Indians and others. Unlike other employees, though, workers on reservations are not protected by U.S. labor law, including the right to organize, since reservations are nominally independent.

The outcome of the organizing may help define a muddled concept that has challenged courts and lawmakers since tribal treaties were first signed centuries ago: What rights come with Indian sovereignty?

"These workers exist in this legal no-man's land,'' said John Wilhelm, national president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.

Efforts are under way to organize workers in California, Connecticut and Wisconsin, although unions have only now begun to make their presence felt at some of the nation's 310 Indian casinos. Across the country, tribal gambling is the nation's fastest-growing gaming sector.

Union leaders say that if tribes won't let them organize, they may pursue federal legislation that would bring labor law -- such as a minimum wage -- to the reservations. Many tribes would see such a move as a violation of their independence.

Wilhelm, whose union is the most active, compared the effort to the groundbreaking campaigns in the 1930s to organize auto and steel workers -- creating the modern labor movement -- and in the 1960s to organize farm workers that led to Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers.

Like those eras, the movement is trying to form unions where none exist.

So far, the tribes have shown some willingness to at least negotiate with unions, although not with the hotel and restaurant workers union, which has waged a costly legal battle with a coalition of California tribes.

Tribal leaders insist they are not opposed to unions. The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, for instance, agreed to let the Communication Workers of America organize at its casino, northeast of San Diego, and the majority of the food, beverage, housekeepi ng and maintenance employees voted for a union earlier this year.

Negotiations are under way between that union and other tribes, including the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

The San Manuel casino was the site of a scuffle in February between tribal security and organizers of the hotel and restaurant union. The organizers claim they were beaten when they tried to speak with workers, and have filed a civil lawsuit against the security officers.

San Manuel Vice Chairman Ken Ramirez described the lawsuit as frivolous. San Manuel provides employees with excellent benefits, "one of the most generous of any employer'' in the region, he said.

"The issue at hand has never been with labor but only with (the union) as they attempt to force our employees to submission by using strong-arm and scare tactics,'' he said.

Other tribal leaders insist their employees are well taken care of and they resent efforts by the hotel and restaurant union to make the right to organize a component of the gambling agreements required between states and tribes.

Some disgruntled employees disagree. They echo labor leaders' concerns that an impartial body should look out for workers and handle complaints. Currently, the employer and the tribe are one and the same.

Others complain of a lack of sick leave, high costs for health insurance and forced overtime.

"I think that the union can help you to stop the discrimination at work,'' said Isidro Ramirez, a 33-year-old dishwasher and cook at the Pechanga casino in Temeculah, between Los Angeles and San Diego. "I want the company to respect us and to let us work in a free environment. The same rights that they should have, we also should have.''

Ramirez makes $7.35 an hour at the casino and speaks no English. He said workers have been told not to speak Spanish or to talk to union organizers, and he fears getting fired without recourse.

Mark Macarro, Pechanga tribal chairman, did not return repeated phone calls from The Associated Press.

Connecticut state Sen. Edith Prague has heard similar complaints from workers in that state, where the hotel and restaurant union is working to organize the Foxwoods Resort Casino, the country's largest Indian casino.

"I've had workers call me and say, 'Why do I pay taxes to the state of Connecticut if I lose my rights when I step onto the reservation,''' said Prague, a Democrat. "I'm not opposed to sovereignty as long as it is used as a tool and not a weapon.''

Lawmakers agree on gambling
Tourism gets share of money in compromise with Indians
May 22, 1999 c. ASSOCIATED PRESS

MADISON, WIS. - Legislators passed a plan Friday that would give Wisconsin tourism a big chunk of the state's $45 million share of Indian gambling money in a compromise that removed several items tribes had criticized. The compromise, which unanimously passed the Joint Finance Committee, would also give conservation efforts and economic development grants for businesses near casinos. The plan removed many of the items in Gov. Tommy Thompson's proposed budget that Indian tribes had criticized. Those included using tribal gambling money to pay a lawyer in the Department of Justice for Indian litigation and paying the Department of Natural Resources for law enforcement costs related to spear fishing.

The committee's compromise "really takes a lot of in-your-face stuff out of the package that would have disrespected the tribes' sovereignty,'' said Sen. Gwendolynne Moore, D-Milwaukee. Agreements between Wisconsin's 11 tribes and the state require the tribes to pay the state $21.5 million next year and $24 million in 2001. Kevin Keane, Thompson's spokesman, who was happy with the compromise, said tribes didn't have the right to complain in the first place. "It's not their money, it's the state's money now. That's what the tribes need to come to grips with,'' Keane said. "Certainly they wouldn't want us coming in now and telling us how to run their casinos.''

Representatives from several of the state's Indian tribes did not immediately return messages. If passed in the 1999-2001 budget, the money would be used in a variety of ways, from giving a big boost to Wisconsin's advertising budget to helping pay for tribal health care.

"I think the majority of tribes are going to be very happy with this product,'' said Robert Jauch, D-Poplar. Jauch said the compromise would "target our resources'' so that "tribes, the communities around the tribes and all the people in the state benefit from these revenues.''

The plan, which finance committee co-chair Rep. John Gard called a "team effort,'' would give $4 million each year from tribal gambling money to the Department of Tourism for marketing efforts. The money would create a 56 percent increase in tourism marketing from the previous budget. Of the $8 million, at least $900,000 would have to be spent each year on marketing grants that tribes would be eligible for. In addition, $200,000 would have to be spent annually for grants to the Milwaukee Public Museum for Native American exhibits and activities.

The budget compromise would also create a gaming economic development grant and loan program that would receive $4.5 million in 1999-2000 and $5.5 million in 2000-2001. The program would help offset the negative economic impacts of casinos on businesses nearby. A similar plan targeted at small businesses was taken out of the governor's budget.

"This is just so unclear as to what we were actually going to accomplish here,'' Gard said. "I did not have one tavern in my district that said they wanted to take on additional debt.'' Gard said a loan program for small businesses could be addressed in the future. "We could offer some sort of economic development aid under a program that Commerce (Department) could dream up,'' he said. Fish and wildlife would get a significant cut of the gambling money as well. Each year, $2.5 million would be spent on the conservation fund in the Department of Natural Resources. The committee voted not to increase the fees for fishing and hunting licenses, because "we did that two years ago, and a lot of us did not want to do it again,'' Gard, R-Peshtigo, said.

Gambling Panel Begins Final Phase
.c The Associated Press By LAURENCE ARNOLD 6/1/99

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Pro-gambling members of a national study commission have one more chance to argue against a proposed moratorium on new lotteries and casinos as the panel writes its final report.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission meets here this week to conclude two years of work taking stock of the proliferation of legalized gambling across America.

The commission was going into its final meetings Wednesday and Thursday with dozens of recommendations already decided, including a nationwide minimum age of 21 to place bets, less aggressive state lottery advertising and more funding of programs to treat gambling addicts.

But a few major issues still must be resolved.

Commissioner Richard Leone, who opposed introducing casino gambling in Atlantic City, N.J., while state treasurer, wants states to emulate New Jersey's ban on political campaign donations by anybody from the gambling business. Defeating that idea is the casino lobby's chief goal this week.

The meetings will also represent the last chance for pro-gambling commissioners to change or remove a controversial sentence from the panel's draft report -- the language that would urge state and local governments to consider a moratorium on gambling expansion.

At least one commissioner, MGM Grand Inc. chairman J. Terrence Lanni, has said he will write a minority report if the moratorium suggestion remains intact when the commission finishes its report. The study is to be presented to the White House and Congress on June 18.

The commission cannot unilaterally impose a moratorium. But the mere suggestion of one has caused debate around the country. In Wisconsin, for instance, Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum invoked the commission's name in urging a moratorium in his state on Indian casinos.

On the other hand, several states have taken steps toward introducing or expanding gambling in just the past several weeks.

The Kialegee tribe has proposed building Georgia's first casino. Illinois state lawmakers approved a riverboat casino near Chicago. Washington state's gambling commission rejected Gov. Gary Locke's call for a moratorium on "mini-casino'' card rooms.

The commission will submit its report to Congress, the White House, state governors and tribal leaders. After that, all bets are off. Congress or state legislatures would have to turn the recommendations into real change.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., whose district includes Las Vegas, said she expects "a rash of legislation'' from gambling opponents in Congress. But "this is a state issue,'' she said. "If individual states don't want gaming or want to regulate gaming, they can do that.''

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a gambling critic who sponsored legislation to create the commission, said he plans to introduce bills in line with commission recommendations.

On the state level, the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling plans to use the report as ammunition against the proliferation of video gambling in neighborhood stores and restaurants.

"In the year 2000, we're going to roll back 'convenience gambling' somewhere,'' said the group's spokesman, Bernard Horn.

Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association, said the commission's report will focus needed attention and government resources on the problem of gambling addiction.

"`But really, the vast majority of these regulations are aimed at governors and state legislators,'' he said. "And historically, state legislators resent people in Washington telling them what to do.''

Commissioner James Dobson, an opponent of gambling, said he has heard from state legislators and private citizens interested in using the report's findings in their fights against gambling.

Dobson, president of the conservative group Focus on the Family, said his greatest hope is that "the American people will begin to look at what gambling does (and) begin to recognize that it has a definite downside.''

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 Tulalips plan for video gambling
by Diane Brooks c. Seattle Times 6/1/99

The Tulalip Tribes' tree-felling operation along Interstate 5 is an ante for two new economic forays: video gambling and a future 1,900-acre business park. The Tulalips began clearing land recently for a 20,000-square-foot bingo hall, the first building in the tribes' business park. That park, west of Marysville, is expected to eventually stretch from the 88th Street Northeast interchange of I-5 to the 116th Street Northeast interchange. Moving the bingo operation out of its present quarters in the Tulalip Casino will, in turn, free casino space for 425 new video machines featuring lottery and pull-tab games. The state Gambling Commission is expected to approve that new technology at its June 10 meeting. Video gambling could begin at the Tulalip Casino within a week of that meeting, said John McCoy, the tribes' executive director of governmental affairs. Because the new bingo hall won't be ready before December, the bingo operations temporarily will be moved into leased space in a nearby building.

Electronic forms of lottery and pull-tab games have been developed by a dozen companies to comply with terms of a recent agreement between the state and 12 Washington tribes, including the Tulalips. State officials say the video devices technically are not illegal slot machines because the determination of whether someone wins or loses will not be made by a chance action of the machine. Rather the computerized system will have a predetermined number of winners available, like a scratch-ticket lottery game. "No money in, no money out and no arm pull. It's all touch-screen or buttons," McCoy said. Players use paper cards indicating how many games they've paid for. The machines spit out similar paper slips showing how much the players have won.

The flashy video games are wired to a computer that randomly selects winning combinations. The Tulalips have purchased all their video-gaming machines from the Sierra Design Group of Reno, McCoy said. The Northwest Alliance of Gaming Tribes has estimated that the video machines cost $7,000 to $8,000 each, plus $300,000 to $500,000 for the computer system that controls them. McCoy said the Tulalip investments fall within those ranges, but he declined to be specific. Next year the Tulalips plan to increase the number of video-gaming machines to 675, the maximum allowed for each tribe under the state pact, he said. Under the deal reached with Gov. Gary Locke in November, tribes can buy video-gaming allocations from other tribes, with a limit of 1,500 machines per casino. "All the nongaming tribes are talking to us" about selling their rights, McCoy said. The Tulalip Casino employs about 800 people, McCoy said. About 35 percent of the employees are tribal members, he said. The Tulalips don't know how many new jobs the video gaming will provide, he said, because the new technology probably will cause a drop in other areas of casino business, such as regular pull-tab sales. For now, the tribes are only clearing 20 acres of business-park land, just enough for the bingo hall and environmental-protection projects. The tribes are talking with other potential business-park tenants, but no deals are final, McCoy said. Possible future uses include light manufacturing, office space, a relocated casino, a hotel-convention center and a seven-college "hub" program on one site that is being planned by the state. Nontribal area residents have complained about the tree-cutting, McCoy said. In response, he stressed that the tribes plan to use the timber for cultural projects such as carvings and ceremonial fires. Topsoil will be recycled as well, he said. A 200-foot buffer will be maintained on both sides of No-Name Creek, which supports salmon, McCoy said. The tribes might develop a park or interpretive walk through the buffer area.

Casinos Increase Lobbying, Handouts

.c The Associated Press By JONATHAN D. SALANT 6/6/99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As a federal panel was wrapping up its study of the gambling industry, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt flew to Las Vegas to pick up a $250,000 check from the chairman of Mirage casinos.

Other Democrats and Republicans have made similar fund-raising trips since Congress created the gambling commission in 1996. Many have taken behind-the-scenes tours of casinos on Las Vegas' famed Strip, chatting with blackjack dealers, learning how the security staff ferrets out cheaters, or watching how the industry trains its workers.

When it comes to influencing legislation, the casinos are not leaving anything to chance.

They have pursued a double strategy of on-location lobbying and campaign cash in hopes of solidifying support against some recommendations approved by the federal commission that studied the impact of gambling.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission issues its recommendations to Congress, the president, Indian tribes and governors on June 18. Among the recommendations it has approved: a moratorium on new lotteries and casinos, and legislation to outlaw gambling on the Internet.

Experts say the industry has won over many friends.

"In Congress right now, it would be a struggle to get any anti-gaming thing passed,'' said William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "They've got the bucks and the opposition doesn't.''

Thanks in part to gambling industry supporters on the panel, most of the report's dozens of recommendations will be aimed toward state government.

In addition to casinos, the commission studied gambling on Indian land, aboard riverboats and cruises, at pari-mutuel tracks and in state lotteries. Its recommendations include raising the betting age to 21, increasing help for addicted gamblers, and banning betting on college sports.

The casinos count on the Republican-controlled Congress to protect their interests at the federal level, even though religious conservatives are urging the party to crack down on gambling as a social ill.

Among the industry's champions are Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., whose state is home to a growing casino industry, and top House Democrat Gephardt of Missouri, which allows riverboat gambling.

Lott led a group of Senate Republicans in 1997 to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where they toured an employee training center before mingling with donors.

In 1998, Gephardt and other top House Democrats toured the Mirage before joining donors over shrimp and lamb chops at a buffet.

Gephardt and the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel of New York, returned last month to meet with the chairman of Mirage Resorts, Steve Wynn, and accept his $250,000 contribution for House Democrats.

"We're happy to have widespread support from individuals and groups who know how close we are to winning back the House,'' Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman John Del Cecato said.

Frank Fahrenkopf, the gambling industry's chief lobbyist and a former Republican Party chairman, said touring casinos and mingling with their executives help educate lawmakers so they will better understand the industry.

Along the same lines, a former board chairwoman of the Nevada Hotel-Motel Association, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., has urged the casino industry to bring her fellow freshmen to Las Vegas.

The American Gaming Association's lobbying expenses increased from $760,000 in 1997 to $860,000 in 1998. The group's other lobbyists include former Rep. Dennis Eckert, D-Ohio, and a former White House chief of staff, Kenneth Duberstein.

Since forming a political action committee in December 1995, the association has given $194,410 to federal candidates and political parties. Some of the individual casinos have given far more. Harrah's has contributed more than $1 million since 1995. Mirage boosted its giving from $159,800 in 1995-96 to $528,846 in 1997-98.

"We have a right to be heard and represented in the halls of Congress,'' Fahrenkopf said. "We want to be players.''

The support for casinos within the Republican Party is troubling to many religious conservatives.

'I will continue to urge my party to turn down donations from gambling interests,'' said Republican presidential hopeful Gary Bauer, who endorsed the commission's recommendations Friday. "I think inevitably that money corrupts politics.''

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who sponsored the legislation creating the commission, said, "I think people who are very strongly pro-family ask, 'How can you take this money?'''

Reflecting concerns about the industry's influence, the commission will recommend that states limit how much gambling interests can contribute to campaigns for state or local office.

As in Congress, gambling interests are well entrenched in many states to rebuff the commission's recommendations.

In California, Indian tribes and the casino industry pumped $88 million last fall into a referendum on expanding Indian gaming.

In South Carolina, the video poker industry spent millions in 1998 on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hodges. He defeated GOP Gov. David Beasley, who called the industry a ''cancer.''

Conservatives, Casinos Square Off
.c The Associated Press By JONATHAN D. SALANT 6/7/99

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Now that a national study commission has ended its work with recommendations for new controls on gambling, the action shifts to Congress and state governments -- and the lobbies that will fight for and against the changes.

Rep. Frank Wolf, the Virginia Republican whose bill created the commission, says he'll introduce legislation based on the panel's call for federal action. He also plans to write to the governors and urge them to approve the recommendations for state and local governments.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission's recommendations include a moratorium on new lotteries and casinos, bans on gambling on the computer Internet and on college sports and increased help for problem gamblers. The report is scheduled to be presented to President Clinton, Congress, American Indian tribes and governors on June 18.

Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, a former head of the conservative Family Research Council, has endorsed the recommendations. The Christian Coalition also is prepared to lobby on the issue, said the group's executive director, Randy Tate.

But the gambling industry, which prefers the word "gaming,'' is well-heeled and prepared to challenge its opponents. The American Gaming Association, a trade group, has taken top congressional Democrats and Republicans on behind-the-scenes tours of casino operations and held million-dollar fund-raisers for both parties.

"In Congress right now it would be a struggle to get any anti-gaming thing passed,'' said William Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. "They've got the bucks and the opposition doesn't.''

Among the industry's champions are Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., whose state is home to a growing casino industry, and House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, a home to riverboat gambling.

Lott led a group of Senate Republicans in 1997 to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, where they toured an employee training center before mingling with political donors.

In 1998, Gephardt and other top House Democrats toured the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas before joining donors at a shrimp and lamb chop buffet.

Gephardt and the ranking Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, returned last month to meet with Mirage Resorts chairman Steve Wynn and accept a $250,000 campaign contribution for House Democrats.

"They acknowledge we're going to take the House back and they're hedging their bets because they know the odds are in our favor,'' said Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Frank Fahrenkopf, the gambling industry's chief lobbyist and a former Republican Party chairman, said touring casinos and mingling with their executives helps educate lawmakers so they will better understand the business.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a former board chairwoman of the Nevada Hotel-Motel Association, also has urged the casino industry to bring her fellow freshmen to Las Vegas.

"Gaming in Nevada is akin to cars in Detroit,'' she said. "It is important for members to understand gaming is a business like any other.''

The American Gaming Association's lobbying expenses increased from $760,000 in 1997 to $860,000 in 1998. Besides Fahrenkopf, the group's lobbyists include former Rep. Dennis Eckert, D-Ohio, and Kenneth Duberstein, White House chief of staff under President Reagan.

Since forming a political action committee in December 1995, the association has given $194,410 to federal candidates and political parties. Some of the individual casinos have given far more. Harrah's has contributed more than $1 million since 1995. Mirage boosted its giving from $159,800 in 1995-96 to $528,846 in 1997-98.

"We have a right to be heard and represented in the halls of Congress,'' Fahrenkopf said. "We want to be players.''

This increased financial support for congressional candidates is troubling to many religious conservatives.

"The more the parties become beholden to the gambling lobby, the more our families are at risk,'' the Christian Coalition's Tate said. "We see this is as a disturbing trend. Gambling does nothing to enhance the local quality of life but does a lot to disrupt the family structure.''

9.1 Million Jackpot Hit at Wildhorse Casino Resort
Pay Out Is Nation's Largest Native American Casino Jackpot
PRNewswire June 11, 1999

PENDLETON, Ore., -- Wildhorse Casino Resort in Pendleton, Oregon, paid out a $9,164,299.31 jackpot Thursday, June 10, 1999. Bob and Mollie Breshears of Yakima, Washington, hit the jackpot while playing a $20.00 bet on a Megabucks slot machine, part of the National Progressive Slot network. This is the largest slot jackpot ever won at a Native American Casino, topping the previous record of $7.4 million from December 1998 in Wisconsin.

"When Bob hit the jackpot, I thought he was joking," said Mrs. Breshears. "I never thought anything like this would ever happen. I guess the first thing we will do is visit some of our family." The Breshears have six children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Mr. Breshears is a beekeeper and Mrs. Breshears is retired from the Yakima Sheriff's Department.

Wildhorse Casino Resort is part of the 11-state Native American Progressive Slot network. Slot players across the nation to contribute to a central jackpot each time they play a machine linked to the system. Participating states include Oregon, New Mexico, Louisiana, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Connecticut.

Wildhorse Casino Resort is earning a reputation as the casino of big winners. Since joining the national Native American Progressive Slot network in 1996, players at Wildhorse Casino Resort have taken home nine of the 18 primary jackpots won in Oregon and the previous largest single jackpot, $1.48 million, ever won in the state. Primary jackpots refer to the maximum pay out possible on a machine at any given time.

Other jackpot winners at Wildhorse in 1999 include Dean Culp of Mentor, Ohio, winner of a $270,601 jackpot playing one of Wildhorse's Wheel of Fortune slot machines May 12, 1999. Culp's jackpot came just 16 days after Bud Brown of Cascade Locks, Oregon, won $219,433 on a Wheel of Fortune slot April 27. A $267,062 Nickelmania jackpot was won at Wildhorse in January of this year.

Wildhorse Casino Resort is located four miles east of Pendleton in Northeast Oregon. The resort features an 18-hole championship golf course, 100-room hotel, restaurants, gift shops, 24-hour casino, RV park, and the renowned Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. Wildhorse is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. More information on Wildhorse Casino Resort is available at 800-654-WILD or www.wildhorseresort.com.

Court Axes Ban on Casino Ads
.c The Associated Press By LAURIE ASSEO 6/14/99

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court opened the door Monday to full broadcast advertising of casino gambling, complete with pictures of bettors at the tables. The court ruled that a federal ban aimed at protecting compulsive gamblers violates free-speech rights.

The court unanimously struck down the ban on television and radio advertising of casino gambling in states where such gambling is legal. The ban "is so pierced by exemptions and inconsistencies that the government cannot hope to exonerate it,'' Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court.

The American Gaming Association and some legal experts said the decision will allow casinos to advertise gambling even in states that ban casino gambling. The court's opinion did not say so, but it criticized the ban in broad terms.

"The presumption is that consumers are better off if left to judge the value of speech themselves, rather than to have the government judge it for them,'' said Matthew Berry of the Institute for Justice. The conservative-libertarian group supported the New Orleans-area broadcasters who challenged the ban.

Stevens wrote for the court that the ban "may not be applied to advertisements of private casino gambling that are broadcast by radio or television stations located in Louisiana, where such gambling is legal.'' More than half the states have legalized casino gambling, offered either by private companies or Indian tribes.

The Clinton administration, in arguing for the ban, had emphasized the "devastating social costs'' caused by and to an estimated 3 million compulsive gamblers, and said Congress was entitled to address part of the problem by reining in commercial speech.

But Stevens said, "The federal policy of discouraging gambling in general, and casino gambling in particular, is now decidedly equivocal.''

Advertising of state-run lotteries is legal in states that conduct lotteries, and casino gambling run by Indian tribes can be advertised everywhere.

Stevens also noted that the Federal Communications Commission "has permitted broadcasters to tempt viewers with claims of 'Vegas-style excitement''' and to use the word "casino'' if the word is part of the establishment's name.

Ashton Hardy, attorney for the New Orleans broadcasters, said casinos could advertise even before Monday's ruling, so long as they emphasized non-gambling activities such as shows, meals and general ambiance.

The new ruling will allow ads to promote the gambling itself and show people at the tables, he said.

"It's exactly what we asked for,'' Hardy said, "full informational advertising which ... provides the public with information about a legitimate product or service.''

Hardy said he did not think the ruling allows such advertising in states where casino gambling is not legal.

Daniel E. Troy of the American Advertising Federation said he is advising advertisers they would be taking a major risk by advertising in non-casino gambling states. But he said the ruling's discussion of problems with the federal ban "invites a challenge by, for example, the New York stations.''

Ten states now allow gambling at private casinos: Nevada, New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado and South Dakota. Michigan will join them this fall. At least 22 states allow tribal-operated casinos.

A long-standing federal law bans broadcast advertising for "any lottery, gift enterprise or similar scheme offering prizes dependent in whole or in part upon lot or chance.'' Congress has amended the law to allow ads for Indian-run casinos, state lotteries and charity gambling. Since 1988, the law primarily has targeted privately owned casinos.

The casino ad ban had been in effect in only some parts of the nation because some federal appeals courts ruled it unconstitutional while others upheld it.

The Supreme Court for two decades has demanded that any government limits on truthful and non-misleading commercial speech be shown to directly advance some asserted government interest and be no more extensive than necessary. If they do not, those limits violate the First Amendment's free-speech protections.

The casino-advertising ban did not meet that test, the court said. The regulation permits "a variety of speech that poses the same risks the government purports to fear,'' Stevens said.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission first has drawn heat by deciding to recommend that states and towns consider a moratorium on more casinos, slot machines and lotteries.

American Indians Back Gamble Report
.c The Associated Press By LAURENCE ARNOLD 6/18/99

WASHINGTON (AP) - A massive report on gambling is getting notice, but neither Congress nor state officials are likely to embrace its recommendations, ranging from a moratorium on new gambling activities to a ban on collegiate sports betting.

The 200-page report, which presents more than 70 recommendations, is being formally submitted today to Congress, the White House, state governors and tribal governments.

The findings, made public two weeks ago, recommends a nationwide minimum age of 21 to place bets, a ban on betting on collegiate sports, restrictions on campaign donations by the gambling industry, removal of cash machines from casino floors, a reduction in state lottery advertising - and a moratorium on the spread of gambling.

But history suggests there are steep odds against the report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission producing any real change. Another federal commission more than 20 years ago also had a swarm of ideas, but few ever were enacted.

"My guess is that some will use (the recommendations) as guidelines, but there will be no overwhelming endorsement and enactment of the proposals,'' said Drake University professor W. Scott Wood, who teaches a class on the psychology of gambling.

For one thing, gambling is extremely popular. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia now run lotteries; commercial casinos operate in 10 states, and Indian tribes have opened casinos in at least 22 states.

Pro-gambling members of Congress already have vowed to fight any effort to impose new federal restrictions on state-approved gambling. "Gambling is already well-regulated by the states,'' said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., whose district includes Las Vegas.

States, meanwhile, rely on revenue from legalized gambling and are unlikely to limit or roll it back, said Wood.

But gambling opponents said they hoped the report by the congressionally created commission may at least make legal gambling a front-burner issue.

"Two and a half years ago, we couldn't get a story on this issue if we tried,'' said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a gambling opponent who sponsored legislation creating the commission. Now, he said, "I don't think this issue will ever, ever go away.''

The report, approved by the commission two weeks ago, has attracted attention, even before it's been formally submitted. For example:

The watchdog group Public Citizen asserted that campaign donations have turned Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., into the "most powerful congressional friend'' of the casino industry. Lott denied the allegation.

Common Cause reported that gambling interests gave more than $6.3 million in campaign money to both parties in the two years since the commission was created.

A Gallup poll showed that legal gambling enjoys broad public acceptance among Americans but has prompted concerns about addiction and the integrity of sporting events.

Researchers at the University of Georgia and the University of Illinois reported that counties experience higher rates of property crime and violent crime after casinos open.

A Cato Institute report urged the federal government to stay out of gambling, which "for the vast majority of people is ... a voluntary and harmless pursuit.''

Wolf said he plans to introduce bills to enact some of the commission's recommendations. He also might go beyond the commission's report to propose a federal tax on gambling revenues and elimination of a federal tax deduction for gambling losses.

"We need to take this work and make sure it doesn't sit on a shelf in Washington and collect dust,'' Wolf said.

Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association, accused Wolf of unleashing a "hysterical diatribe'' that ignored the report's findings that casinos have boosted failing local economies.

Barona Casino Breaks Ground On New, 18-Hole Championship Golf Course
c. BUSINESS WIRE June 24, 1999

SAN DIEGO, - At a groundbreaking ceremony on the reservation, members of the Barona Band of Mission Indians and invited guests celebrated the casino's growth and success by acknowledging the founders who first inhabited the Barona Reservation in 1932.

In keeping with the Tribe's heritage of giving, representatives from 32 local non-profit organizations were invited to participate in a putting challenge on a miniature replica of the future first hole. The five charities whose golf balls landed closest to the hole, including Barrio Station, Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, Jr. Achievement, Make-A-Wish Foundation and San Diego Blood Bank, received a $1,932 donation from Barona Casino.

"We are fortunate that Barona Casino is prosperous and has led to an improved quality of life for our Tribe," said Clifford LaChappa, chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. "When Barona Casino first opened, no one could have imagined that we would one day open a championship-quality golf course, but here we are. A debt of gratitude is owed to the brave men and women who founded the Barona Reservation in 1932, because without their vision of a better way of life and their courage, none of this would exist."

In a nod to Barona's past, the groundbreaking festivities were reminiscent of the 1930s. Big band music played, and servers dressed in knickers and colorful "Ben Hogan" hats passed hors d'oeuvres. Barona Reservation founders in attendance accepted custom-made, inscribed golf flags from Chairman LaChappa as symbols of the Tribe's esteem.

Barona's golf course, designed by Gary Roger Baird Design International, LTD., will measure 7,200 yards and will challenge golfers of every level, from professional to beginner. The state-of-the-art course will utilize an elaborate creek network and lake system for irrigation. Native grasses, oak trees and natural rock formations will be incorporated into the design, preserving the luster of the natural surroundings and creating a course truly unique to San Diego.

"Barona's new golf course will make the most of the land's characteristics, such as natural streambeds which will come alive on the course," said Gary Baird. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to help Barona Casino take this crucial step in the facility's expansion."

The golf course addition and future development plans will create hundreds of new jobs at Barona Casino, which currently employs more than 1,400 people and has an annual payroll of approximately $24 million.

"Today we embark on a growth plan that will further position Barona as a leader among California's gaming destinations," said LaChappa. "Within the next few years, Barona will also offer resort-style accommodations."

Construction costs for the new golf course at Barona Casino are estimated at $12 million. Expected completion of the golf course is July 2000. Barona Casino also will undertake a major development project that will double the current gaming area and add a hotel, in addition to the golf course.

Following the groundbreaking, the party moved to a special, temporary putting green, where charity groups squared-off in the putting challenge. The top five finishers were: Joe Bettencort, Barrio Station; Bill Finley, Child Abuse Prevention Foundation; Joanne Pastula, Jr. Achievement of San Diego and Imperial Counties; Colleen Arenas, Make-A-Wish Foundation; and Dr. Anthony Melaragno, San Diego Blood Bank. Each organization received $1,932 from Barona Casino, commemorating the year the Tribe founded the Barona Reservation.

"When we considered how to celebrate our groundbreaking, it was important to the Tribe that the event acknowledge our history, while continuing our commitment to helping others," said LaChappa. "Today's putting challenge was fun and entertaining, but more importantly, we were able to give sizeable donations to five charities."

Gary Roger Baird Design International, LTD., is an award-winning golf course design firm based in Tennessee, with offices in California. The company has designed courses in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including the $120 million Adonis Country Club in Pochun, Korea, a magnificent, 27-hole golf course, designed for one of Baird's largest international clients, the Daewoo Corp.

Barona Casino is one of the most successful casinos in California, with 115,000 square feet of alcohol-free gaming and hospitality space. The casino is owned and operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians, which is recognized by the United States government as a sovereign government. Barona Casino is located on the Barona Indian Reservation, which is located in rural eastern San Diego County and is home to approximately 300 people.

Gambling on the future
c. The Economist 6/27/99

The latest government report on the subject concludes that Americans have taken gambling to their hearts. The price is high

AMERICANS love to roll the dice, bet on a game, load up on lottery tickets (with pathetic odds of winning astronomical sums), or even stare blankly at a video machine that spits out the occasional coin. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission was created by Congress in 1996 to study whether all this is a good thing for the country. Now it has come back with its report: the proliferation of gambling has entertained millions and generated decent jobs in some of America's most distressed communities, but it has done so at a steep price, much of which is paid by individuals who never set foot in a casino. The commission recommends a "pause" to take stock. Legalised gambling is now permitted in 47 states and the District of Columbia, generating more than $50 billion in gross revenues (dollars wagered minus payouts). Gambling expenditures as a percentage of personal income more than doubled between 1974 and 1997, from 0.3% to 0.74%. Americans now spend more on various wagers than they do on theme parks, video games, spectator sports and movie tickets combined (see chart). Government is far more than an observer in all this. Revenue from state lotteries climbed from $2 billion in 1973 to $34 billion in 1997. The states spent $400m advertising such games, in some cases targeting poor districts. Tribal casinos take in another $7 billion.

The report notes that Americans overwhelmingly approve of gambling, which has become "a pervasive activity in our culture". That eagerness to roll the dice has generated an estimated 700,000 direct and indirect jobs and $21 billion in wages, revitalising deprived areas-or at least staving off death.

But at what price? The report estimates that roughly 3m American adults have had a pathological gambling problem at some point in their lives, meaning that they have lied, stolen, gone broke, neglected jobs or family, or even committed suicide because of an uncontrollable desire to gamble. A study by the National Opinion Research Centre at the University of Chicago found that pathological gamblers generate 15% of the industry's gross revenues-and that each one costs society around $12,000 over his lifetime in benefits and policing costs. Meanwhile, many of the purported benefits of legalised gambling are illusory. Lottery revenues, for example, are often dedicated to popular causes, such as education or environmental protection. But closer study suggests that such revenues merely displace funds that would have been raised in some other way: the crumbling schools or endangered loons do not actually get any new money. In fact, the lottery is essentially a large regressive tax. Lottery players with household incomes under $10,000 spend three times as much on lottery tickets as those with incomes over $50,000. Indeed, 5% of ticket buyers account for 51% of total sales. Two additional factors make America's gambling habit particularly problematic. First, the industry has pumped massive amounts of money into political campaigns, making it less and less likely that politicians will deal with the issue sensibly. And second, the Internet now has the capacity to put a virtual casino in every home in America. What is to be done about all this? The commission makes 76 specific recommendations. They include a complete ban on wagering on college and amateur sports, a ban on Internet gambling and a ban on credit-card cash-advance machines in gambling parlours. The report suggests raising the legal age for any kind of wagering to 21 and taxing gambling revenues to pay for programmes to treat problem gamblers. The commission also calls for restrictions on political contributions from entities operating (or seeking to operate) gambling facilities, an idea that is not likely to get through the courts. Indeed, the Supreme Court recently overturned a federal ban on commercial gambling advertising on radio and television. The report makes a distinction between destination gambling (riverboats and resorts), which generates local jobs and economic development, and "convenience gambling" (the video poker machine tucked in the corner of a petrol station) which does not. The commission recommends a rollback of convenience gambling operations. It also wants a host of new studies on the relationship between gambling and various social problems, such as bankruptcy, divorce, domestic violence, suicide and crime; and it recommends sorting out the sovereignty issues related to Indian gaming. Both pro- and anti-gambling forces think the report is on their side. Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, says it proposes no blanket federal approach to gambling: the commission concludes that gambling is by and large a state and tribal issue (with the exception of the proposed federal ban on Internet gambling). And the industry has been cleared of its alleged ties to organised crime. But gambling opponents argue that the gambling industry's armour has been pierced. "The cards they dealt us we can use," says the Rev Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalised Gambling. He and other gambling opponents compare the industry to big tobacco, which hid for years behind a series of barricades that were slowly destroyed by new evidence. "You contain them, you constrain them, and ultimately they conquer themselves. That's just basic infantry 101," Mr Grey goes on. In the true American spirit, he suggests there might be a lot of money to be made by suing the entities that knowingly get people addicted to gambling. The most impressive accomplishment of the Gambling Impact Study Commission may be that its members did not throttle one another. Political wrangling guaranteed a diversity of strongly held opinions. (The president, the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader were each asked to appoint three members.) In the end, the group had four members with direct or indirect ties to the gambling industry and five members with no such ties. The commission held hearings around the country, listened to testimony from experts and the public, surveyed existing research, commissioned original research, and even toured the Atlantic City Boardwalk, interviewing vendors along the way. Richard Leone, a commission member who is also president of the Century Foundation, called the undertaking a "unique expression of American pluralism". Yet for all its work, the commission dodged the most fundamental question: do the social costs of gambling outweigh the benefits? The panel sniffed at existing research on the subject, calling it "flawed by insufficient data, poor or underdeveloped methodology, or researchers' biases." The members also balked at attaching dollar figures to some of the most egregious social problems caused by pathological gambling, noting, "How can one calculate the 'cost' of the two children that died while locked in cars as their parents or care-givers gambled in nearby casinos?" The report's recommendations carry no legal weight; any changes must move through a political process in which gambling interests hold most of the chips. But the report has properly positioned the issue not as a moral question of whether individuals should gamble or not, but as a social issue in which an industry and its customers offload most of their costs on the public. "If you keep the focus of the camera tight enough, you can show gains [from gambling], particularly in the most desperate places," says Mr. Leone. But, he points out, that view changes as the camera draws away.

LINKS Numerous studies have been conducted on gambling in the United States. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission 's final report was published on June 19th. The National Opinion Research Center , based at the University of Chicago, recently conducted a national survey on the subject. The American Gaming Association makes a case for the economic and social benefits of gambling. Such benefits are questioned by the National Coalition Against Legalised Gambling .The American Indian Gambling and Casino Information Centre was formed to protect the tribes' gaming industries. Gamblinglinks.com gives an indication of the extent of online gambling. Gamblers Anonymous has online information and a recovery programme.

Babbitt Called Before Grand Jury
.c The Associated Press By H. JOSEF HEBERT 6/30/99

WASHINGTON (AP) - Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was called today before a grand jury in connection with the investigation into whether campaign funds influenced a decision in 1995 to reject an Indian casino in Wisconsin.

The 14-month investigation by Independent Counsel Carol Elder Bruce reportedly was moving toward conclusion. It was Babbitt's first appearance before the grand jury.

Interior Department spokesman Mike Gauldin said he could not comment on the case, referring questions to Babbitt's personal lawyer, Lloyd Cutler. Cutler could not immediately be reached.

The special counsel is looking into whether promises of campaign contributions to the Democratic Party influenced the Interior Department decision in 1995 to reject a request by three Chippewa tribes to open a casino in Hudson, Wis. Other tribes opposing the casino later contributed nearly $300,000 to the Democratic National Committee.

Babbitt has vigorously denied any connection between campaign contributions and the decision to reject the casino permit.

But a longtime friend, Paul Eckstein, who was a lobbyist for the tribes seeking the casino, testified at congressional hearings that Babbitt alluded to Democratic campaign contributions and pressure from the White House during a meeting on the day the casino decision was made.

Among the questions the special counsel is trying to answer is whether Babbitt lied before Congress when he described the events leading up to the casino decision. Babbitt has said Eckstein misunderstood the conversation and has denied misleading lawmakers.

Bruce was believed to be wrapping up her investigation.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune report today that Bruce anticipates completing the fact-gathering part of the investigation by mid-August.

Bruce has asked the U.S. attorney in Madison, Wis., for an additional 60-day delay of a federal court suit involving the casino issue, so she could wrap up her own fact-finding, according to the newspaper.

"We are nearing the end of our factual investigation and are in the process of reviewing the facts and the law in order to reach a final conclusion as to whether any indictment(s) should be sought,'' Bruce wrote, according to the report.

The U.S. attorney in Wisconsin represents the Interior Department in the lawsuit brought by the Indian tribes who had sought the casino permit.

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