Clinton Set to Name Gambling Commissioners

WASHINGTON —  President Clinton plans to appoint a Nevada gaming regulator, a former New Jersey state treasurer and a member of Alaska’s Tlingit tribe to a new nine-member gambling commission, the White House said Tuesday.

Clinton’s choices were William Bible, who chairs the Nevada State Gaming Control Board; Richard Leone, a former New Jersey state treasurer who is president of the Twentieth Century Fund, and Robert Loescher, a Tlingit member.

Clinton chose the three because he “wants a balanced study of the impact of legalized gambling on the U.S. economy and society at large,” a White House official said. They will join six others already named to the panel by Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

The commission will conduct a two-year, $5-million probe of the benefits and liabilities of casino gambling, state-sponsored lotteries, horse racing and sports betting.