Anchorage Daily News

State legislators are moving toward changing the state constitution to demand a public vote before any gambling for profit can be legalized in Alaska.

The idea is to blunt an initiative that's set to appear on the August statewide ballot. The initiative would create a commission with the power to authorize gambling -- from lotteries to casino games -- without the Legislature's approval.

The state House voted 33-6 in favor of the constitutional amendment this week. It goes to the Senate, where Judiciary Committee Chairman Hollis French thinks it has a real shot at passing even with just four days left in the legislative session.

If the Senate does pass the constitutional amendment in time and the governor signs it, the idea would go to voters for approval in the November election. That's presumably before the gaming commission could get set up and act.

"I want this to go into the constitution, that people will always have a say," said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Harry Crawford, a longtime foe of expanding gambling who sponsored the measure with Eagle River Republican Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom.

Currently, it is up to the Legislature to decide whether to allow gambling beyond the limited number of pull-tabs, bingo, ice classics, pools, raffles and the like that are now legal to benefit nonprofits. Recent years have seen fights in the Legislature over whether to expand what's allowed to include video poker, a casino, lotteries or card rooms. In the end, the Legislature refused to do so.

That's when people associated with the bar and restaurant industry trade group CHARR produced the initiative for an Alaska Gaming Commission. CHARR members had lobbied for the legalization of video gambling machines in bars and clubs.

The proposed commission would regulate existing gaming in Alaska, which is now overseen by the state Department of Revenue. It would also have the power to expand gambling.

WILL OF THE PEOPLE

Darwin Biwer, owner of the Anchorage bar Darwin's Theory, said initiative backers collected more than 50,000 signatures while getting the measure on the August ballot. He said Anchorage Rep. Crawford's constitutional amendment is an attempt to thwart the will of the voters to decide by initiative.

"It's kind of embarrassing to even do such a thing," Biwer said.

He said the Legislature is out of touch with the public on gambling issues and listens to a vocal minority. He said polls show, for example, that Alaskans want a lottery.

"Everybody wants a lottery; it's stupid not have one," he said.

Biwer said the commission would strengthen monitoring and enforcement of gaming.

CAN IT PASS?

Crawford said initiative backers misleadingly sold the initiative as a move for greater regulation rather than a tool for expanded gambling. Biwer said the initiative language is clear about what the commission would have the power to do.

The initiative says the commission is meant to generate revenue for the state and regulate gaming activities. The five voting commissioners are to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature to five-year terms.

Crawford said the commission would have too much power. His proposed constitutional amendment would forbid for-profit gambling without both a statewide vote and a vote in whatever community where the gambling would happen.

Crawford is confident his proposal would get the necessary two-thirds vote to pass the Legislature if it reaches the Senate floor. But he said the question is if it will be held up in committee in the frantic final days of the legislative session.

The measure is likely to go first to the Senate Judiciary Committee. French, the chairman, supports HJR 2 and thinks it "probably does" have legs in the Senate.

French noted it was the Senate in recent years that killed proposals passed by the House to legalize card rooms and potentially allow a casino to be built in Anchorage.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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