Sunday, January 21, 2007

Jeff Coy has been named to another two-year term on Pennsylvania's Gaming
Control Board. Speaker of the House Dennis O'Brien, R-169, signed a letter
reappointing Coy on Friday, and the letter was to be delivered Tuesday to
Coy and gaming board chairman Thomas A. Decker. O'Brien spokesman Bill
Patton says the speaker made the appointment before receiving a letter from
state Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-89, that urged O'Brien not to reappoint Coy - a
former 11-term legislator for the 89th District in Franklin County. A
Democrat, Coy served 22 years prior to his controversial retirement in
September 2004 that coincided with his appointment to the gaming control
board by House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, D-50. The Democrats
helped elect O'Brien speaker Jan. 2 under a deal that gains them significant
power in the House. The Coy appointment appears to be the result of that
power-sharing agreement. Former GOP Rep. Mark McNaughton, originally
appointed to the gaming board by state Rep. John Perzel, R-172, the former
House speaker, is the odd man out.