Del Papa to represent Nevada on new national gaming panel

Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa will be Nevada's delegate to a new national commission being formed to study the impact of gambling on society.

The commission will be made up entirely of public sector officials, and is being formed in response to what founders call dissatisfaction with similarly charged federal panel commissioned by Congress.

"We have some concerns with the National Gambling Impact Study Commission," said Steven Geller, a Florida state senator who is president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission has spent the last year and a half hearing testimony and preparing a report for Congress, which is due in June. The NGISC is made up of nine people, including pro-gaming figures like MGM Grand Chairman J. Terrence Lanni and anti-gaming figures like Focus on the Family ministry President James Dobson.

Geller is concerned the NGISC is talking about a variety of new federal gambling regulations and taxes, yet has no representation from state or local governments. A different commission is needed, he said, to give state and local governments a chance to study and report on the impact of gaming.

"We think it's appropriate for the states and local governments to take a closer look," said Geller. "If they had a governor and an attorney general on the (National Gambling Impact Study) Commission, it is far less likely we would have created a public commission."

NGISC officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

The public official study commission will include a governor, three state legislators, three regulators -- including a casino regulator, a pari-mutuel regulator and a lottery regulator -- a mayor, an Indian tribal representative and a law enforcement official. Del Papa will fill a slot reserved for a state attorney general, said Geller.

Del Papa said she accepted Geller's invitation because gambling is such a critical industry to Nevada.

"I looked at it fairly closely," said Del Papa. "I thought it was a reasonable time commitment for an issue that is critical to our state."

The commission will hold four or five public hearings around the country over the next several months -- similar to hearings held by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission -- and plans to issue a final report over the summer, said Del Papa.

The Florida Institute of Government, a research foundation affiliated with Florida State University, will write the report based on commissioner direction, said Del Papa. The commission's association with an academic institution ensures the final report's objectivity, she said.

"It's associated with an institution of higher education," said Del Papa.

The final report will be issued to members of Congress and state government officials nationwide, she said.

Del Papa declined to criticize the makeup of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

"I think this is a good opportunity to have additional public input," said Del Papa.

But Geller said the new commission is important to the ability of state and local governments, who will be affected by any federal decisions, to voice their points of view.

In an interview earlier this week, National Council of Legislators from Gaming States spokesman Bob Mackin said the commission will likely find both significant pros and significant cons to legalized gambling.

What is important, said Geller, is that the new commission's findings will be driven by objective analysis rather than by political compromise.

"We are not a pro-gambling or an anti-gambling group," said Geller. "We are pro-states rights."

archive