Snake Eyes

Columnist : L. Henry

PA gambling industry already marred by greed and corruption

The ink has barely dried on Pennsylvania ‘s new law legalizing slot machine gambling and already it has become mired in controversy, alleged corruption, and gaming industry grabs for tax dollars – in short, everything opponents predicted.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert has secured indictments against Erie Mayor Rick Filippi and two associates in what has been described as a land-speculation scheme. The Mayor’s troubles stem from the site selection process for a proposed horse racing track and slots parlor on the site of the former International Paper company on the city’s east side.

One of the clear deficiencies in the slots law was a failure to provide adequate powers to the Office of Attorney General and other law enforcement officials to properly police the state’s nascent gambling industry, an industry nationwide that has been noted for its high level of corruption. That indictments were issued before the new gaming commission even held its first meeting is an ominous sign of what lies ahead.

Even though those firms politically-connected enough to win a precious slots license will reap hundreds of millions of dollars in annual profits, they are already trying to put their hands into the pockets of taxpayers. Again in Erie , MTR Gaming Group, which will likely run any slots parlor in the city by the bay, is asking for a $48 million taxpayer subsidy to build that facility.

The company justifies its outrageous request by saying the subsidy will be paid for by taxes it will pay. But wait a minute; wasn’t one of the supposed benefits of legalized gambling to be a new tax stream to give relief to property owners? The only trait that exceeds corruption in the gambling industry is greed. MTR Gaming and other potential slots operators are being given a virtual license to print money, now they want taxpayer dollars in addition to their profits. Incredible!

A lawsuit filed in Harrisburg recently by Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion (PAGE) may, however, cause the entire house of cards to come tumbling down. It seems our esteemed legislators, in their haste to pass the new gambling law, did so in a way that violated several provisions of the state constitution. If it adheres to the constitution, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be compelled to strike down the gambling law and send the issue back to the General Assembly.

According to the PAGE lawsuit, the process by which the law was passed violated the “Original Purpose” and “Single Subject” rules of Article III of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The suit also contends that certain provisions of the law infringe upon constitutionally-mandated Separation of Powers. Basically, pro-gambling legislators attached the slots law to an unrelated piece of legislation in order to secure its passage in the middle of the night on the July 4 th holiday.

Michael Geer, President of the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the PAGE Fund points out that: “The impact of this law on the social fabric of Pennsylvania will be monumental. If the Constitution was so clearly violated when this law was passed, the citizens can have little confidence in future laws and regulations on this issue.”

Given the indictments and tax grabs already casting a cloud over the advent of slot machine gambling in Pennsylvania, its safe to say Mr. Geer is right about the deleterious effect gaming will have on the social fabric of our state. And any law passed in the dark of the night, devoid of reasonable safeguards, and fraught with constitutional violations deserves to be stricken from the books.

Our only hope to prevent the blight of gambling from taking root in our midst is that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania acts in accordance with the state constitution, and with a level of integrity that was clearly missing from the legislative process.