Tuesday, April 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
NEVADA'S TWO Democratic senators say the casino industry is losing the battle over a proposed gaming study because its "friends" in the Republican-controlled Congress haven't come to its defense.
"Each week that goes by, it gets worse," says Sen. Harry Reid. "I'm not sure I can fix blame other than to say all the friends who are supposed to be here in Congress don't exist.
"This is a legitimate multibillion-dollar business and nobody is willing to help us. Everybody's running from us. Where are our friends? Where's Newt Gingrich? Where's Bob Dole?"
Sen. Richard Bryan says he sees "no evidence" that any commitments of support the industry may have received from Republicans were fulfilled in the House, which passed the gaming study bill overwhelmingly without any amendments.
"I still am profoundly disappointed that this bill came out of the House in the form that it did," he says. "It puts us in a real box."
The latest worries come after another bad week for the industry on Capitol Hill in which anti-gaming forces were able to neutralize weeks of maneuvering behind the scenes to weaken the Senate's version of the bill.
Casino leaders believe the study will lead to federal regulation and taxation of the industry.
Prodded by Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, the industry helped Republicans capture Congress in 1994, and it has contributed heavily to GOP candidates since then.
Wynn persuaded his colleagues to raise $1 million for the Republican National Committee in 1994. Last year, he hosted a luncheon for Dole, the likely GOP presidential nominee, that pulled in nearly $500,000 for the Senate majority leader.
But the industry has continued to lose ground in the hard-fought gaming study battle during the Republican regime.
"This isn't looking good," Reid says. "If ever there was a time for our friends to come forward, this is it."
Adds Bryan: "It's time for the industry to redeem its commitments. It's time to call those markers in."
Wynn's spokesman, Alan Feldman, says it's too "simplistic" and "extraordinarily partisan" to blame the Republicans for gaming's troubles in Washington.
"A more objective view of this is that the entire subject of gaming and its oversight by Congress has become a very convenient election-year subject on which to moralize," he says.
Feldman adds that Wynn has "no second thoughts" about backing Republicans.
Top gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf, meanwhile, says it may be premature to give up on the industry's friends on Capitol Hill.
"At this point in time, I think it's a little early to make that judgment," says Fahrenkopf, a former national GOP chairman. "This thing isn't over with yet. We've got to wait and see what happens."
Fahrenkopf explains that gaming needs the help of Republicans and Democrats to fend off what he calls a bipartisan assault on the industry.
"My attitude is if the industry is going to come out of this all right, it's going to take everyone working together," he says.
At the same time, Fahrenkopf adds: "I don't blame (Reid and Bryan) for being frustrated. I think we're all frustrated."
Fahrenkopf concedes the industry doesn't have as many friends in Washington as it would like.
Bryan says that may be because casino bosses have gone too far in courting Republicans, who have caved in to powerful political forces, such as the Christian Coalition.
"The industry has tilted in a very partisan way that I think has not been helpful," Bryan insists.
Reid says he plans to meet with Bryan and Fahrenkopf to come up with a better strategy to fight gaming's well-organized foes.
"Whatever we've done so far just hasn't worked," Reid says.
The next couple of days may be crucial, according to Fahrenkopf, who has set up meetings with several key senators.
"Our goal is to get a fair and unbiased commission," he adds. "I think we still have a very good shot at getting that.
"This is like a guerrilla war. You battle here, you battle there, and hopefully you win."
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