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Capital Views: Fairness called key to gambling question



Printer Friendly VersionPost a CommentTell a Friend about this Article19 January 2003
Other than farming, Sen. Jim Honeyford says, he doesn't gamble. "It's the Scotch in me, I guess," he says.

He's never played the lottery and has been in a tribal casino for only a get-acquainted tour.

Still, Honeyford may be the best bet for expanding gambling in Washington.

The Sunnyside Republican, whose 15th District includes southeastern Clark County, assumed chairmanship of the Commerce and Labor Committee this session.

The five-senator committee will scrutinize the Entertainment Industry Coalition's proposal to allow electronic gaming in establishments that currently have other forms of gambling, such as bingo, card games and pulltabs.

Currently, tribal casinos have a monopoly on such slot-style gambling.

The entertainment coalition argues that allowing some 19,000 machines in 1,700 establishments will help its members compete with tribal casinos and generate $250 million a year in state and local taxes.

Washington tribes counter that expanding nontribal gambling would set back their drive toward overdue prosperity and the improvement of the health, housing and economic standing of American Indians.

Appearing in front of Honeyford's committee last week, Indian gaming lobbyist Tracie Stevens of the Washington Coalition of Tribal Self-Reliance rhetorically asked: "If there were no budget shortfall, would you even be considering such a huge policy shift?"

After the hearing, Honeyford said the state's deficit provides only a "supplemental" reason for thinking about more gambling.

"I don't see us gambling our way to prosperity, but I think there is a strong issue of equity," said Honeyford, who described himself as sympathetic to the coalition's position.

To draw attention to the cause, expanded-gambling supporters will stage a rally 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Capitol.

The 25,000-strong teachers' rally last week will be a tough act to follow, but the entertainment coalition expects 1,500 to 2,500, said former 18th District representative Jim Springer, a Kelso businessman and coalition chairman.

Springer, who represented northern Clark County in the 1993 and '94 legislative sessions, owns a combination bowling alley, restaurant and lounge. But he depends on gambling.

"If I lose pull-tab gaming tomorrow, I close down."

Springer said he netted $30,000 on gambling in a two-year period ending last fall. That was one-third less than the previous two years, and Springer blames the tribes' "video scratch games," which are essentially electronic versions of paper pull-tabs.

Springer compares pull-tabs to Scrabble, while video slots are like Microsoft's Xbox.

"It's a technological issue," he said.

Gambling has become a billion-dollar industry in Washington. From all forms of gambling, net receipts --- wagers minus prizes --- totaled $1.132 billion in 2001, almost a threefold increase from seven years earlier.

Tribal casinos and nontribal card rooms account for the increase. Other forms of gambling, including Springer's pulltabs, have declined or increased only slightly, according to the Washington State Gambling Commission.

Charity "Reno Nights," an impetus for expanding gambling in the 1970s, are long gone.

Springer, who already has competition from the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, wonders about his businesses' future if the Cowlitz Tribe opens a casino in Clark County.

Said Springer: "You don't have to like gambling or not like gambling to understand the equality issue."

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