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Friday, September 26, 1997

Bush announces anti-gambling task force

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Gov. George W. Bush on Thursday created a task force to recommend stricter anti-gambling laws in an effort to crack down on illegal gaming and casino-style slot machines.

In a speech to the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, Bush also said he would provide up to $200,000 in grant money to help train prosecutors and law enforcement officers to improve enforcement of existing laws.

The Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling will examine the extent of such activities in Texas, review gambling laws and enforcement, and suggest ways to clarify and strengthen the state's position against casino gambling, Bush said.

State Sen. David Sibley, who sponsored a bill in the 1997 Legislature that would have banned gambling machines with casino-type payoffs, will lead the task force. His bill was talked to death in the waning hours of the session.

The task force also will include other state legislators, prosecutors, law officers, representatives of state agencies charged with enforcing gambling laws and members of the public.

Bush wants the group to write a bill for the next legislative session that would make it easier to crack down on casino-style slot machines, known as eight-liners.

"With the governor's support, I will pull out all the stops to get anti-casino gambling legislation passed by the Legislature in 1999," said Sibley, R-Waco.

Eight-liners 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.

"Texans do not want our neighborhood shopping centers to resemble Las Vegas casinos," Bush said. "Every day we are exposing children to something that is, for many people, addictive and harmful. I do not want to see a wave of underage gambling addicts in Texas."

Current law allows games of chance as long as they offer non-cash prizes worth $5 or less. Lawmakers intended the exception to allow stuffed animals and other trinkets offered as prizes in children's arcade games. Ambiguities in the law have cleared the way for the proliferation of eight-liners.

Texans Against Gambling praised the governor for his initiative and said it would marshal its troops to support the effort.

"We cannot allow this problem to persist any longer because it threatens families, it is a consumer fraud issue, it is the most addictive form of gambling, and it invites criminal activity," said Richard Blankenship, a spokesman for the group.

Bingo, charitable raffles, pari-mutuel wagering and the state lottery are the state's only exceptions to Texas' policy against gambling.