In his latest State of the State address, Gov. Mike Dunleavy again proposed to expand “gaming” in the state to augment falling revenues. However, he did not specify just how, or to what extent. I oppose any commercial (for-profit) gaming expansion that results from this, and I’ll explain why.
First, let me present my credentials. I worked for the state of Alaska for 33 years, 25 of which were with the Department of Revenue, Tax Division’s Gaming Unit, first as an investigator (two years) and then as an auditor (23 years). In that time, I learned a little of how and why gaming exists in Alaska.
In the days before oil, the state supplemented the budgets of various not-for-profit organizations around the state through legislative appropriations, but soon found that process to be difficult, expensive and uneven. To correct that, the state instituted the charitable gaming program as it now exists. The program allows not-for-profit organizations to obtain a permit to conduct certain authorized gaming activities, chief among which are pull-tabs, bingo and raffles. It also allows permittees to contract with licensed operators to conduct activity on their behalf.
