SLOT MACHINES GOP to introduce amendent to bill

The amendment requires gaming board members to have background checks.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Republican leaders in the state Senate were readying a set of changes to the slot-machine gambling bill Monday that, among other things, would significantly widen the attorney general's oversight authority.
An amendment expected to be introduced today requires the attorney general to approve the legality of leases, contracts and regulations passed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said Stephen C. MacNett, chief counsel to the Senate GOP.
It also establishes an investigative division within the attorney general's office to address gambling-related criminal activity and allows racketeering charges for gambling-law violations.
The amendment would prohibit ownership by legislators of any stake in a gambling entity -- including manufacturers and distributors -- with exceptions for mutual funds, blind trusts and pensions.
Background checks
It would also require state police background checks of Gaming Control Board employees, although MacNett said he was unsure if that would apply beyond executive-level workers. It clarifies that the board must abide by state open-records and open-meetings laws, as well as state-code sections that address ethics, regulatory review and procurement.
The proposal guts a provision in the law that is designed to create a new class of business -- Pennsylvania-based distributorships with the sole power to sell slot machines to casinos within the state. The amendment makes them optional rather than mandatory and would let manufacturers sell directly to casinos.
The General Assembly approved up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 racetracks, resorts and stand-alone parlors in July under a bill that directed about $1 billion annually in gambling proceeds to cut local property-tax bills.
The amendment's centerpiece is the ban on gambling investments, which the House of Representatives prohibited for its own members by passing an internal rule Monday.
The House Republican leadership has said it does not necessarily oppose a legislative approach but felt the rule change would have a more immediate effect on public opinion.
Legislators are reacting to public outrage over the 1 percent limit, some of it driven by a misperception that they had guaranteed themselves a 1 percent stake in casino gambling. The proposed amendment would make violations a misdemeanor crime.
Other changes Senate Republicans want include preventing the public release of license applicants' background checks, a move designed to placate law enforcement agencies that may otherwise be reluctant or unable to share investigative information.
The amendment also would repeal the gambling board's power to override local zoning ordinances, except in Philadelphia. MacNett said the city was excluded because of its "terrifically politicized zoning process at the city council level."
It also would prevent localities from enacting their own gambling regulations to limit, in an example MacNett used, the number of slot machines allowed within their municipality.