Controversy continues over gaming study and secret meeting

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., again has ripped into the National Gambling Impact Study Commission for not abiding by the federal open meeting law.

Bryan said he intended to send a letter to all nine commissioners today informing them of his concerns that they are not abiding by the Federal Advisory Commission Act.

His latest criticism comes after the gaming commission held a hastily called teleconference Friday, in apparent violation of FACA, to approve a crucial gambling survey that has been condemned by the casino industry.

Bryan, who had previously urged the commission to cancel the teleconference, accused the panel's chairwoman, conservative university administrator Kay James, of being "disingenuous" about wanting to conduct business in the open.

"What has transpired to cause the chair to reject the open meeting law when she so clearly embraced it at the outset of the commission's work?" Bryan asked.

He said he found the trend to circumvent FACA "very disturbing," as the commission works to prepare its report for Congress in June.

Last month, Bryan criticized the commission for allowing its research subcommittee to meet behind closed doors in Denver to consider the gambling survey.

Bryan said James failed to tell her colleagues at Friday's teleconference about a letter he received from a top General Services Administration official, who said the gaming commission falls under FACA guidelines.

Timothy Kelly, the commission's executive director, said Friday that he has a legal opinion from the Justice Department and the panel's own general counsel indicating FACA does not apply to the panel's work.

Kelly said the commission, nevertheless, intends to ensure it goes about its business in as open a manner as possible.

James echoed those words at Friday's teleconference.

Two pro-gaming commissioners, meanwhile, MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni, and international Culinary Union President John Wilhelm, were critical of the methodology used in the pilot for the survey of gamblers.

Lanni and Wilhelm were the only commissioners who voted against the measure to move ahead with the survey, which is part of a massive effort to determine the extent of problem gambling in the country. Former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, who also is considered a casino industry ally, voted to conduct the survey.

Afterwards, American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf criticized the commission for moving forward.

"We have serious reservations about how the pilot patron survey data was collected," Fahrenkopf said.

Fahrenkopf charged that the company that conducted the pilot, the Chicago-based National Opinion Research Center, "erroneously" and "irresponsibly" reported that 36 percent of those interviewed had a gambling problem.

That flies in the face of another survey that has concluded only 1.3 percent of Americans are addicted to gambling, according to casino industry officials.

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