By Tony Batt
Lasvegas.com Gaming Wire
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, may add a bill that would ban college sports betting in Nevada to campaign finance reform legislation that is scheduled for debate next week in the Senate, sources said Wednesday.
Reports of Brownback's possible action surfaced a day after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chief sponsor of the betting ban, said he was unlikely to bring it up before the end of this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, which runs through the beginning of April.
McCain also is the leading Republican sponsor of the campaign finance reform bill, and has made it clear it his top priority.
Senate sources who requested anonymity said they were skeptical Brownback would follow through with such a plan because of its potential for infuriating McCain, who has said he will resist amendments to the campaign finance reform bill.
A Wednesday call to Brownback's office was not returned.
"We don't know if there is any substance to these reports, but we are taking them seriously," said Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association.
Fahrenkopf said betting ban supporters appear to be trying to make the bill a campaign finance issue as well as an NCAA issue. He cited a report expected to be released today by the congressional watchdog group Public Citizen, which claims the Nevada casino industry used soft money loopholes to kill the NCAA bill last year.
Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., could not be reached for comment, but spokeswomen for both senators said they were aware of the rumors about Brownback's intentions.