Friday, October 27, 2006

The Pennsylvania Legislature was unable to finalize a long-awaited gambling
reform bill Tuesday night after the House amended a number of provisions,
including one it claims was the result of a Senate drafting error. The
gambling reform bill was the second piece of major legislation on the agenda
that lawmakers may be unsuccessful in finishing up before the November
election because of overlooked errors. A negotiated bill on lobbyist
disclosure fell apart after the Senate passed an amendment Monday night that
accidentally used language from an earlier version. What exactly happened on
gambling reform is in dispute. A top Republican Senate aid, Erik Arneson,
said the change that mucked up gambling reform was not a mistake but rather
the result of attempts to address concerns raised by House negotiators. That
Republican aide, as well as a top Democratic aide, hinted that the Senate
might return after all to clean up both bills, after swearing off the idea
when the lobbyist disclosure bill error was discovered. "We will make some
sort of announcement tomorrow," said Christopher Craig, chief counsel to
Philadelphia Democrat Sen. Vince Fumo. On gambling reform, House members
said a provision banning gambling applicants from contributing to state and
local political campaigns left out the two racetracks which haven't been
awarded licenses. They include Presque Isle Downs in Erie and the seventh
outstanding racetrack that the state harness racing commission struck down
for Beaver and Lawrence counties. Those two track licenses are now in court
appeal. In a stunning move, the House voted unanimously to open the bill to
amendments against the advice of House Republican Leader Sam Smith. "At this
point in time, it is in the best interests of the people of Pennsylvania and
this legislative body to put this bill on the governor's desk," Smith said
from the floor. "If we amend this bill tonight there is no question this
bill becomes a sine die session football." By sine die, Smith was referring
to the lame duck legislative session after the November election and before
the two-year legislative term ends.

But members bucked Smith after what some called a heated Republican caucus
session, saying they had a responsibility to give Pennsylvanians a correct
law. Some blasted late-night bill passing.

"We have been too careless in this Legislature over the past few years in
how we go about drafting legislation," said Rep. Robert Freeman, a Democrat
from Northampton County. "We put up with unnecessary midnight sessions. We
put up with sloppy drafting and that is simply wrong."

The first amendment to correct the political contribution provision error
came from a Democrat, Rep. Kevin Blaum from Luzerne County. That amendment
opened the floodgates to three others, which effectively sunk the
Senate-negotiated bill.

Blaum said he couldn't let the bill go to a vote with such a glaring error.

"Nobody talked to us" about what was going in the negotiated bill, Blaum
later said. "And then this mistake was made and we're generously calling it
a mistake. And we had to correct it."

Among the other changes was a removal of exemptions for gambling venues on
local smoking bans, and restoring state power over riparian rights after the
bill handed those rights over to gambling venues.

When asked whether the House was torpedoing a negotiated bill, Rep. Paul
Clymer, a Bucks County Republican, said the changes were important.

"Members are seeing an important opportunity to make corrections to Act 71,"
the original 2004 gambling law, Clymer said. "We feel frustrated that time
and again we wanted to put through this legislation."

But Craig said there was no reason to hold up the entire bill for one
drafting error. He said the error actually came from a House attorney, who
came up with the political contribution language.