Wednesday, August 02, 2006

As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "The issue of whether to call
the Legislature back to Harrisburg to make changes in the law legalizing
slots casinos is mired in politics again. "Gov. Ed Rendell and Republican
and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate can agree on one thing: The
law should be refined. But they can't agree on how to refine it and who
should take the first step to renew the process. "Yesterday, Gov. Rendell
reiterated his refusal to call a special session that state Sen. Jane Orie,
R-McCandless, has been pushing for and urged Republican leaders in the state
House and Senate to call an early end to summer vacation by returning to
regular session. "A Republican leader said there's no reason to call
lawmakers back into session unless they know they can reach a consensus.
"Democrats accused Ms. Orie of grandstanding and blocking previous attempts
at changing the law. "Ms. Orie called for a special session two weeks ago
after it was revealed that a Philadelphia lobbyist had listed his children
as part owners of a proposed slot-machine supply company. They have since
been removed. "Ms. Orie and others want to make several changes in the slots
law, including prohibiting children as potential owners; eliminating
middle-man slots machine suppliers; removing a provision that allows
legislators to own up to 1 percent of a gaming company; and authorizing the
state attorney general's office to oversee all slots operations, including
background checks and operational oversight. ...Ms. Orie said it is
important for changes to be made to the July 2004 law as soon as possible
because the first casino licenses are scheduled to be awarded at the end of
next month..."