Nevada governor resurrects Gaming Policy Committee

The Republican told the State Bar of Nevada’s Gaming Law Conference last Friday that that the Gaming Policy Committee would have discussions that could eventually lead to policy decisions, regulations and legislation to oversee the rapidly changing landscape of the modern gaming industry. “I hope to sketch a new road map for the journey ahead,” said Sandoval. “We will preserve our position as the gold standard in gaming regulation and in the provision of gaming entertainment. We will be second to none on the globe.”

The Gaming Policy Committee was created by the Nevada Legislature in 1961 following a call from Governor Grant Sawyer for a body to discuss gaming policy matters. Sandoval, who served as Chairman for the Gaming Commission of Nevada for 27 months from May of 1999, revealed that a subcommittee of the body last met in 2007 but that the full group has not convened since Richard Bryan was Governor in the 1980s.

Chaired by the Governor, the Gaming Policy Committee consists of one member each representing the Nevada Senate, the Nevada Assembly, the Nevada Gaming Commission, the Nevada Gaming Control Board and a Native American tribe alongside five appointees. The appointed members are to be made up of two from non-restricted gaming licensees, one from a restricted gaming licensee while the remainder will be from the public.

Sandoval stated that he had already asked Mark Lipparelli, Chairman for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and Peter Bernhard, Chairman for the Nevada Gaming Commission, to join the Gaming Policy Committee with the remainder of the names expected to be revealed over the coming weeks.

“Nevada’s success in capitalising on the emergence of Internet poker will depend on the strength of its leadership as a sophisticated regulator of gaming,” said Sandoval.  “We can only imagine what technology will bring in another ten years and there are policy implications for us in that world of rapid change.

“We will examine issues ranging from specific technological devices to the world of the Internet to the impact we may someday see on our tax policy from an infrastructure in a changed cybereconomy in which gamers will not necessarily need to be on the casino floor,” he added.