Bryan hammers on gaming commission again

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., for the second time in two weeks, has accused the National Gambling Impact Study Commission of conducting business in violation of the federal open meeting law.

Bryan asked the Washington-based panel Thursday to cancel today's hastily arranged teleconference to approve a crucial gambling survey because not enough notice was given to the public under the Federal Advisory Commission Act.

But he said his top Capitol Hill aide, Jean Neal, was told the teleconference, scheduled for 9:30 a.m Las Vegas time, would go on as planned. A limited number of listening lines were reserved for the public.

"They take the position that they are not subject to the federal open meeting law, but this runs counter to their original pronouncements," Bryan said from Washington.

He said the nine-member commission's own charter indicates it has agreed to abide by FACA.

The commission's research subcommittee has been fiercely debating the survey the past several months, and casino industry leaders have expressed concern about the survey's proposed methodology.

Last week, Bryan criticized the subcommittee for meeting behind closed doors in Denver.

"This is a fight that they should not want, and it's one in which on policy there is no argument that favors a closed meeting," Bryan said. "They are immediately making their actions suspect in the mind of the American people."

Timothy Kelly, the commission's executive director, said this morning he respects Bryan's opinion, but he's confident the panel doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the federal act.

"Nonetheless, the chairwoman and the commissioners believe we ought to be as open as we reasonably and possibly can," Kelly said. "As a result, the hearing today is wide open."

At least one commissioner, former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, said Thursday he had concerns about teleconference, coordinated from the panel's Washington headquarters.

"I'm not certain about the legal aspects of either closing meetings of the commission or its subcommittees, or holding meetings over the telephone," Bible said. "But I feel strongly that the commission should conduct its business in the open so that all Americans can be privy to our policy debates."

Bible added: "In order for the commission's report to have any credibility, it must be put together in an open environment that gives the public and press an opportunity to monitor, review and participate."

Bryan said he wants to address the commission's apparent disregard for the open meeting law at its hearing in Las Vegas next month.

"We are not arguing national security here," Bryan said. "This is not the Manhattan Project."

Bryan referred to comments that Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, made on the floor of the Senate in 1996, when Congress passed legislation creating the gambling commission.

Glenn -- the ranking Democrat on the Senate committee that drew up the legislation -- urged panel members to read the federal law closely and "adhere to its requirements."

Kelly said the commission plans to do "everything it can" to address Bryan's concerns about the way it has been conducting meetings.

But he stressed that if forced to cancel today's teleconference, the commission would have had to cancel the gambling survey.

The commission was asked to approve research that would develop a social and economic profile of those who patronize casinos and other gambling facilities.

A key aspect of that research is an attempt to determine the extent of problem gambling in the country, an important element in the commission's two-year nationwide study.

The panel is supposed to issue its report to Congress in June.

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