Lobbyists cashed in on Pa. slots

Mark Scolforo

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004 | 9 a.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A small army of lobbyists representing at least 34 businesses and individuals was paid $575,000 over a three-month period to help shape the final version of Pennsylvania's new slot machine law, state Senate records show.

The lobbying leading up to the passage of the bill July 4 produced a number of favorable changes for those seeking to influence the negotiations, in particular the horse industry.

The law establishes a relatively high minimum number of racing days for new tracks, allows the owner of Pocono Downs to benefit from slots at two tracks, and provides millions of dollars for capital improvements on top of the tracks' share of the gambling proceeds.

Lobbyist fingerprints are all over the new law, said Thomas W. King III, a lawyer for a Pittsburgh developer who is suing the governor and legislative leaders, alleging they improperly excluded him from competing for a racetrack license.

"I know what I read, we know what we've heard and we know what we saw," King said. "We know what the legislation looked like at the end of the day."

The state expects slots, once fully up and running, to generate about $3 billion a year, with 33 percent being used to reduce local property taxes, 9 percent earmarked for the horse industry and another 9 percent for public projects and the host municipalities. The remainder of the proceeds will go to the tracks and casinos.

The General Assembly legalized as many as 61,000 slot machines at seven racetracks, five stand-alone parlors and two resorts through a 145-page bill that bypassed many of the conventional processes by which legislation is introduced, amended and debated.

"It's probably best to say that it's past. This is one of those classic 'sausage' situations," said lobbyist and former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel, who represented Penn National Gaming. Penn National owns a thoroughbred track in Grantville and Pocono Downs, a harness-racing facility in Wilkes-Barre, and slots are expected to be approved at both locations.

Penn National successfully beat back a provision that would have forced it to divest itself completely of Pocono Downs, preserving the right for gambling licensees to keep a one-third interest in another license -- which for Penn National is potentially worth millions.