2 new Pennsylvania gaming-board members appointed

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa.

Keith McCall, the just-retired speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and a former county commissioner from northern Pennsylvania will take seats on the state Gaming Control Board at a time the agency is grappling with lawsuits and licensing decisions.

McCall, a Carbon County Democrat, was appointed Friday by House Democratic leader Frank Dermody. Tony Moscato, a former Cameron County commissioner, was appointed by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati. Moscato most recently ran the lieutenant governor’s office for Scarnati.

They will replace two original board members — former state House Democratic Rep. Jeff Coy and former FBI agent Kenneth McCabe — who each served the legal limit of three two-year terms. The seven-member gaming board was created in 2004 and guides a staff that regulates Pennsylvania’s casinos.

Senate confirmation for McCall and Moscato is not required, although a state police background check is. Their salaries will be $145,000 a year.

McCall served in the House for 28 years and was speaker in 2009 and 2010, his final two-year term before his retirement became effective Nov. 30. Moscato served four four-year terms as a commissioner in tiny Cameron County until January 2008.

Moscato, who also ran a non-profit health clinic in Cameron County and chaired the Northcentral Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, said he would have voted to legalize casinos, had he been in the Legislature.