Testimony of Mike Harris

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am Mike Harris, Executive Director of the Michigan Family Forum, a research and education organization in Lansing devoted to family issues in government. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify.

Although I do not claim to be an expert on Internet gambling, I do have some expertise in gambling in general, having chaired a Select Interim Committee on Gaming as a Kansas State Senator in 1995, and having testified before the National Gambling Impact Study Commission at its meeting in Chicago in 1998.

I am pleased to testify at the request of Rep. Koetje concerning his bill to ban Internet gambling in the State of Michigan. The proliferation of gambling in Michigan and throughout the nation is a matter of great concern to us at Michigan Family Forum. And Internet gambling is a particularly dangerous form of gambling for the following reasons:

1. Internet gambling will multiply gambling addiction exponentially. This is due to more availability and to the fact that technological advances seem to lend themselves to an epidemic of use to those addicted. (Testimony of Bernie Horn before Congress Feb. 4, 1998.)

2. Internet gambling is also more addictive because of the speed of the game--apparently the single greatest component to addiction, availability being next. (Letter of James Dobson, Ph.D., member of the Impact Study Commission, April, I 999)

3. Underage gambling will increase and its destructive nature may go unnoticed, all due to the ability to gamble with only a credit card and a remote computer terminal. (Horn Testimony)

4. More crime follows from Internet gambling. Virtual casinos may cheat customers without fear of detection, and addictive gambling itself promotes financial crimes such as embezzlement, check kiting, credit card fraud and tax evasion.

5. There is absolutely no offsetting economic benefit to the State shouldered with these problems.

Please do what you can to assure that Michigan citizens are protected against Internet gambling. I have reviewed a draft of the bill before the Committee, and it appears to me that it will do the job, though I'm sure there will be some questions, chief of which may be whether such a law can and will be enforced. That, of course, is an issue to take up with the law enforcement experts and prosecutors. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.