Casino boss takes shots at legislation during D.C. trip

WASHINGTON -- Las Vegas casino heavyweight Steve Wynn blasted a bill that would hurt casinos during a speech he delivered at a United Way luncheon on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Wynn took aim at legislation that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada in an attempt to decrease gambling schemes and game fixing.

"You could outlaw sports betting in Nevada sports books, and it wouldn't decrease the betting on college campuses one penny," Wynn said. "That bill was destined to fail, not because of gaming (lobby) money, but because it was a bad idea."

The legislation was unveiled earlier this month with some fanfare by Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Reps. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Tim Roemer, D-Ind.

Wynn also slammed a bill that would bring nuclear waste to Nevada as early as 2007, which the Senate passed last week under threat of presidential veto, 64-34.

"We hate that more than anything," Wynn said.

Wynn huddled after the luncheon in the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., with Hastert, gaming state Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., Ray LaHood and Jerry Weller, both R-Ill., Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., and Tom Davis, R-Va., who as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Caucus is leading the effort to get Republicans elected.

Wynn praised Hastert for listening to casino concerns and urged him to be more outspoken on gaming issues, Gibbons said.

Wynn also reiterated that the betting ban bill would be better aimed at illegal gambling in America, not legal wagers made in Nevada, Gibbons said. Gibbons added that Hastert and the House Republican leaders seem supportive of that argument.

Powerful gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf also attended the meeting. The American Gaming Association president has been running a full-court press on Congress to kill the betting ban bill. The bill appears to have limited support now in Congress, Fahrenkopf said.

"I'm going to work both houses as hard as I can work them," Fahrenkopf said in an interview during the luncheon. "Because you know what? (The bills) can come back."

Wynn, whose Mirage Resorts Inc. owns the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, was the keynote speaker at the United Way's first-ever event to honor an entire industry. Casinos donated 44 percent of the United Way of Southern Nevada's $5 million take last year, said Garth Winckler, the organization's president. Winckler helped organize the Washington event.

"If you were in business and 44 percent of your business came from one group of customers, you would want to make sure those customers are happy," Winckler said.

Congressional members from gaming states hope the event put a shinier, more community-friendly image on casinos.

"This really is a modern-day, 21st century industry that is vastly different than the industry of the 1930s," Gibbons said. "Not only are casinos more regulated, they are more committed to the people that work for them and the communities where they are located."

The United Way invited about 40 representatives from casinos nationwide to praise them for raising $10 million last year for United Way charities. Mirage Resorts gave $1.1 million, some donated by thousands of company employees.

Casinos donate $58 million total to charities each year, United Way officials said. Casinos grossed about $20 billion in 1998, according to the American Gaming Association. That means casinos gave about 0.3 percent of gross profits to charity.

"Is there something inherently charitable about casino workers?" Wynn asked during his address. "Well, yes, probably."

After the speech, Rep. Shelley Berkley and Sen. Harry Reid, both D-Nev., also praised the generosity of casinos and their workers.

"To the naysayers, I say get to know the gaming industry, come to Las Vegas, it'll change your mind," Berkley said.

Reid said, "The most generous people you can find are in the gambling industry."

Both parties wooed Wynn, who donated $53,000 to Democrats and $79,500 to Republican candidates in 1998 and doled out $10,000 to Democrats and $19,000 to Republicans in the last quarter of 1999.

Before meeting with the Republican leaders, Wynn sat at the luncheon next to Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., who are leading a campaign money drive for Democrats to win the House back in November.

Wynn made several jokes during his speech, at one point feigning disappointment that bitter rival Donald Trump was no longer a presidential hopeful. Wynn also joked he was wearing a flak jacket in case he saw anti-gambling Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.

"I'd like to get a shot at Congressman Wolf myself," Wynn said. "Wish he was here. Oooh, I dislike that man."

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