U.S. states with legal gaming responded on Friday to a federal commission's report on the dangers of expanding legalized gaming in the United States. The Public Sector Gaming Study Commission (PSGSC), composed of public officials from several states, issued a report titled "Gambling Policy and the Role of the State" downplaying the threats from legalized gaming and emphasizing states' abilities to regulate the industry.
The 11-member commission was chaired by Florida state Sen. Steven Geller.
The report responded to last year's call in the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's report to Congress for a moratorium on new gaming endeavors.
Geller said his commission's goal was to determine the "impact of gaming on...state fiscal policies... educational and environmental programs, on businesses ancillary to and directly involved in gaming, employment, law enforcement and personal health." The PSGSC criticized efforts to transfer state oversight of gaming to the federal government, but at the same time called for federal action to strengthen prohibitions on Internet gambling and illegal sports betting.
The report also said last year's federal report overemphasized the impact of compulsive gambling.
The new report called for additional study of the problem. States' sensitivity to federal and judicial rulings limiting states' authority to regulate tribal gaming and casino "cruise to nowhere" boats was reflected in the report's call for states to be given enhanced taxing and regulatory power over those activities.
The report also deflected criticism of state lotteries as a form of regressive taxation, and argued that casinos are a positive economic influence in less-affluent jurisdictions.
The commission said that each state should have the "sole decision and discretion" as to whether or not VLTs or slot machines are proper at pari-mutuel facilities.