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NEBRASKA VIDEO LOTTERIES GET BLANKED • LAWYER ISSUES LIABILITY WARNINGS •
JUKEBOX ROYALTY MEETING UNPRODUCTIVE • PAVLOFF MARKETS BONANZA CARD
VIDEO • BALLY TAKES ON BANNER • NCMI FORMS ARCADE DIVISION • BALLY
STRETCHES COPYRIGHT LAW, ATTORNEY CHARGES •
CROWN VENDING TO SUPPLY CVS 'GAME-PAKS'
NEBRASKA VIDEO LOTTERIES
GET BLANKED
In the second of three hearings, a
bill to shelve some 300 video lottery
machines in Nebraska has received
unanimous approval of the voting
legislators. By 44-0 , Nebraska ' s
single governing body voted to halt
expansion of video lotteries immed-
iately and shelve existing games by
January 1, 1985.
An earlier vote was 44-3 in favor of
LB 744. To become law, it must sur-
vive another hearing and get the
signature of Governor Robert Kerry,
both of which are expected .
The first video lottery opened in
September in Bellevue, Nebraska,
with 20 International Game Tech-
nology machines after lottery pro-
ponents discovered a loophole in
the state's gambling code which
allowed municipalities and charita-
ble organizations to conduct lot-
teries. Today the town of 32,000
supports 160 lottery games that, as of
March 1, grossed $4.9 million. The
state ' s 300 high tech gambling
machines each gross up to $600 to
$700 per week .
Opponents to video lotteries
include the Coin Operated Indus-
tries of Nebraska , the state 's opera-
tor association . According to Ted
Nichols, president of COIN and a
former president of AMOA, the
games " take millions out of the
economy and produce nothing. "
10
Anti-video lottery campaigning
has been led by the state 's influen-
tial newspaper, the Omaha World
Herald. The paper supports a group
of legislators who contend the
Mr. bo! goes home. George Naka-
yama, president of Universal U.S.A.,
and Richard Stearns, vice president
of Parker Brothers, sign an agree-
ment whereby Parker Brothers will
produce a home version of Mr.
Do!'s Castle .
machines are a regressive form of
taxation , take advantage of the
poor, siphon money to out-of-state
gambling interests, and present a
likelihood of political corruption.
LB 744 met stiff resistance from
Sen . Loren Schmitt, part owner of
the Nebraska operations of Interna-
tional Game Technology. In its
original form , the bill would have
stopped the machines' operation at
the moment of passage, but Schmitt
and others lobbied for an amend-
ment to allow existing video lot-
teries to finish out the year. The
amendment has been labeled a
stalling technique for video lottery
proponents who are expected to
have combative legislation ready by
next year's legislative session .
To date, Nebraska is the only state
to allow video lotteries. A six-month
test of the games will be run in Illi-
nois this summer, and Michigan ,
Ohio, and Pennsylvania are looking
at the games as potential sources for
badly needed revenue . New York,
New Jersey, and Connecticut dis-
missed video lottery proposals, but
New York and Connecticut are
reconsidering.
Connecticut already conducts
five separate lotteries which
together will contribute $100 mil-
lion to the state coffers in 1984.
Lottery Chief J. Blaine Lewis Jr. said
PLAY METER, M.oy 1, 1984