"The Gambling Commission has also played a role in the massive expansion of tribal gambling, which has become a $900 million-a-year industry in Washington. The tribes’ casinos operate under compacts with the state that are negotiated by the commission’s staff under the oversight of the governor.

The Gambling Commission and Gov. Chris Gregoire, in other words, were behind a proposed compact, announced last October, that would have allowed the Spokane tribe to operate as many as 7,500 electronic gambling machines at five casinos, including one near downtown Spokane, far from the tribe’s reservation.

Gregoire later rejected this staggering folly, but she and the commission are back at the table with the Spokanes, negotiating a new compact that might drive a perhaps somewhat smaller expansion of machine gambling in Washington state.

As these talks progress, it would be reassuring to know that the Gambling Commission (and the governor, for that matter) shared the public’s concern about turning Washington state into a wetter version of Las Vegas. The commission need not be anti-gambling; merely understanding the difference between regulating gambling and enabling its expansion would do."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Gambling Commission: What's its job, exactly? (The Tacoma News-Tribune 11/23)