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Wednesday, September 24, 1997

Governor urging legislators to curb video slot machines

AUSTIN (AP) -- Gov. George W. Bush says he wants to do away with casino-like video machines that look and play like slots.

A legislative effort to rid Texas of the machines failed earlier this year.

Bush will announce his plan to rid the state of video slot machines during a speech Thursday in Arlington to the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, said spokeswoman Karen Hughes.

"One of the jobs of the governor is to anticipate problems," Ms. Hughes told the Austin American-Statesman for a story published Tuesday. "He is very concerned about the proliferation of these casino-style gambling machines."

A task force appointed by Bush would write a bill to present to the 1999 Legislature to resolve questions that prosecutors contend make it difficult to crack down on the video slots.

The governor also will announce a grant program to help prosecutors use the current law to go after gambling devices.

This year, a Bush-backed legislative effort died in an end-of-session filibuster masterminded by a fellow Republican, Sen. Jerry Patterson of Pasadena.

Known as eight-liners, the machines are estimated to generate more than $100 million annually in Texas, with more than 20,000 in use at truck stops, convenience stores, veterans' halls and other sites, industry observers say.

They say the machines are gaining in popularity -- almost an attraction of their own at businesses promoting themselves as Texas' closest thing to casinos.

Patterson, who is seeking the GOP nomination for land commissioner, acknowledged he collected "several thousands of dollars" in campaign contributions at a San Antonio convention of the Amusement and Music Operators of Texas, a trade association representing owners and operators of eight-liners.

Casinos in Dallas and Monte Carlo near Marble Falls are among businesses that make the machines their primary source of income.

State Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, co-sponsor of the Bush-backed bill, said eight-liner operators were emboldened by the measure's defeat.

"They were thumbing their nose at the law as it existed," said Keel, who will be on Bush's task force.

"By virtue of the fact that they were able to confuse the issue sufficiently to get it filibustered, I suppose they are feeling victorious."