NATIONAL GAMBLING IMPACT STUDY
COMMISSION
REPORT OF THE ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Southwest Site Visit
July 30, 1998
I. INTRODUCTION
As you know, I have had the privilege of serving as the Commission's acting Executive
Director for the past six weeks. During this time, we have all worked hard to make sure that the
Commission office remained proactive and responsive to the agenda established by the
Commissioners. I am proud of the extent to which we have accomplished that objective. Our
hearings are on schedule, the research agenda is in full gear, and we are preparing to staff up for
vear two, which will focus on the subcommittee work, analysis of the research collected and the
report due to federal, state and tribal governments in June 1999.
II. HEARINGS
Southwest Site Visit (Del Mar/Tempe): By now. you can judge for yourself the high
quality and sophistication of panel presentations assembled for our fourth site hearing in Del Mar
and here in Tempe. Thank you for the generous time and assistance many of you provided during
the long process required to define panels and select presenters. I hope that you found the
background materials and briefing papers to be helpful as you considered the complex issues raised
over these two days. I want to also thank Rick Hill and Jacob Coin of the National Indian Gaming
Association for their assistance in identifying relevant tribal leaders. It has been a pleasure to work with them.
This is the first hearing that included time for all four subcommittees to meet, and that has
proven to be extremely helpful. Special recognition should go to the Indian Gambling
Subcommittee Commission - Moore, Wilhelm, and Loescher - for their
work to provide valuable face-to-face time with Tribal leaders on Tuesday in Del Mar, tomorrow
at the Gila River Reservation. and-Saturday in Albuquerque. I remind you that all Commissioners
are, of course, invited to all such meetings.
Southeast Site Visit (Biloxi/New Orleans): Thanks again for your help in defining panels
and selecting presenters for the MS/LA hearing. The resultant proposed panels are listed in the
Work Plan Update under tab 6 in your briefing book. Since we have a shorter period than usual to
prepare for this visit - six weeks - I would ask your help in responding quickly to our draft agenda
and panelist requests. We will be sending you a draft skeleton agenda of panels for your
consideration late next week.
Nevada Site Visit: It seems particularly fitting that our final site hearing, before we shift
to focusing on findings and report writing will be Las Vegas. Last month I was able to advance
our upcoming visit, since I was in Las Vegas for a conference. Governor Miller and
Commissioner Bible's office were particularly helpful in arranging meetings with relevant individuals and groups. I met with several panels from Governor Miller's
NGISC Visit Facilitation Committee, visited the impressive MGM Grand facilities. and sat in on
a treatment group for pathological gamblers. Governor Miller's office coordinated much of the
agenda, and the meetings were both informative and collegial. I think it's fair to say that the
Visitation Committee is putting a tremendous effort into preparing for our arrival and that they
stand ready to assist in any way possible. Much of my discussion with them focused on the
availability of data sources (such as total casino revenues, number and quality of jobs, etc.) that
might be helpful for the Commission as we prepare for Nevada. The Governor's Chief of Staff
was particularly helpful in offering to collect such information for us, and I am glad to see them
present at this meeting as well.
The proposed panel definitions for Nevada are listed in the Work Plan Update a tab 6
in your briefing book. I invite further ideas you may have for panel definitions for our final site
hearing.
III. RESEARCH
Following is a progress report on the Commission's research agenda to date. The
Commission's five primary research contracts have been let, and the selected researchers and
research organizations are hard at work on our behalf. Attached you will find a more detailed
progress report from the three major contractors - NORC, NRC, and ACIR. The following is a brief summary:
1. NATIONAL SURVEY & COMMUNITY DATABASE RESEARCH ON
GAMBLING BEHAVIORS AND THEIR SOCIAL & ECONOMIC CORRELATES:
THE NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER (NORC) CONTRACT
NORC has developed the survey instrument, or questionnaire, for the national phone
survey. It has been extensively reviewed by the Research Subcommittee and was also sent to all
Commissioners for comments. We appreciate the tremendous amount of time the
Commissioners have devoted to this to ensure that the instrument is fair, objective and
representative. Commissioner Lanni also provided ,several recommendation, and we are
currently responding to these.
At the same time, NORC is "pretesting" the questionnaire to fine tune flow and content. We
are on schedule for a national survey to take place in early fall. NORC has also developed a
shortened version of the questionnaire for the patron survey pilot study per the direction of the
Research Subcommittee. Once questionnaire pretesting is completed, and pilot sites selected,
the pilot study will be ready to move forward.
A full discussion of the issues raised on the NORC contract is included in the attached NORC report.
2. RESEARCH ON PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING LITERATURE: THE
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (nrc) CONTRACT
The NRC is continuing to move ahead with their work on pathological gambling literature,
having held an open workshop on prevalence and etiology on June 1-2 in lrvine, CA. Their next
and last open workshop is scheduled for September 2-3 in Washington, DC. This meeting will
focus on treatment for pathological gambling and social and economic impacts. Please let me
know if you or your staff would be interested in attending and I will send directions to you.
For more information, please see the attached NRC progress report and notes on major issues discussed at workshop meetings to date.
3. REVIEW OF LAW AND REGULATIONS ON INDUSTRY AND NATIVE
AMERICAN GAMBLING: THE ADVISORY CENTER ON
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS CONTRACT
The ACIR work on gambling laws and regulation is proceeding on schedule. ACIR has
contracted with consultants from American University who will help guide and produce their
report and they have already conducted several literature searches.
For more information, please see the attached ACIR progress report.
4. RESEARCH UPDATE ON LOTTERIES: THE CLOTFELTER AND COOK
CONTRACT
We are just completing the contracting process for lottery research with Drs. Cook and
Clotfelter. which includes working through the contract office of Duke University. Cook and
Clotfelter have asked the Commission to help generate the needed state lottery data. For that
reason, the Research Subcommittee is developing a questionnaire to send to state lottery
directors, which was recently sent to all Commissioners for comment and review. We hope to
send the request to state lottery directors next month. The resultant data will be a tremendous
asset to Cook and Clotfelter as they update their classic lottery study for the Commission.
5. RESEARCH ON CASINO COMMUNITY ECONOMIC IMPACT: THE ROSE
CONTRACT
Dr. Rose is moving ahead with his work synthesizing the literature on casino economic
development. If possible, I am hoping that he may be able to deliver a preliminary report to the
Commission in Biloxi or New Orleans since we will be focusing their on economic impact issues.
IV. OPERATIONS
Budget. Per the Chair's instruction as well as my own inclination, we are reviewing
several potential cost-cutting measures. We are reviewing administrative overhead, conference
costs, etc., in order to make sure that no funds are wasted and that we allocate as much as
possible to our many research initiatives. For more information, please refer to the budget in TAB 5 of your briefing book.
Communications/Intergovernmental Affairs. We continue, of course, to respond to any
and all media inquiries, and our website continues to receive numerous of hits daily. Also, per
the Chair's instruction, I have met with the following officials involved with Native American
Gambling: Chris Stearns. Democratic Counsel, House Committee on resources (7/1/98); Gary
Bohnee, Majority Staff Director, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (7/2/98); Lloyd Jones,
Majority Chief of Staff, House Committee on Resources (7/7/98); Rick Hill, Chairman, and
Jacob Coin, Executive Director, National Indian Gaming Association; Kevin Grover, Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior (7/22/98), and; Patricia Zell, Minority
Chief of Staff, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (7/24/98). These meetings are part of an
attempt to locate relevant information and panelists and input for our important tasks.
IV. CONCLUSION
At this point, as the Chair has indicated, the Commission is at a strategic point in its
work. The first year, we focused primarily on operational set-up and site visit preparations.
Further, we worked hard to develop the groundwork and vehicles for our scientific research
contracts. At the start of our second year, we are prepared to begin the final efforts on site visits,
and the difficult tasks of accepting the research findings, reviewing the data, and assembling the
final report. I appreciate the assistance and feedback I have received from each Commissioner
and look forward to answering your questions.
Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy A. Kelly
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