Gaming board plans ethics policy
HARRISBURG – The state’s gambling control board said it will set up an ethics policy for commissioners to follow while they review applications for slot machines at racetracks, casinos and resorts. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Chairman Thomas Decker said that after slots applications are submitted and before licenses are granted, a “quiet period” will ensue in which gambling industry officials and lobbyists could have no private communication with the six-member board, which ultimately grants licenses.
Industry will be free to express opinions at public hearings or to gaming staff over technical issues regarding their applications, Decker said.
The application process is expected to last 60 days, although the board is still at least a half-year away from granting its first set of conditional licenses.
Commissioner Joseph Marshall III said the purpose of the ethics policy is “so we can guarantee that the application review process will be above board.” The policy will be stricter than what the state requires for all public officials.
In addition, the board adopted regulations to govern manufacturers of slot machines and related equipment. The rules require that companies submit to checks proving their financial stability, that they don’t owe back taxes, and that managers and owners of the company have no criminal backgrounds.
Also, managers and owners are banned from giving campaign contributions to any candidate running for public office, or to a political committee or state party.
The application and license fee amounts to $52,500, with an annual renewal fee of $25,000.
The regulations are part of the state’s effort to gear up for legalized gambling. About 16,000 slot machines will come to racetracks, casinos and a resort as long as a pending Supreme Court case rules that the legislation passed last summer allowing gambling is constitutional.
The gaming board is expected to adopt similar regulations soon for suppliers, companies that distribute or service slot machines for facilities
It held off on Thursday because of ongoing debate over whether to require that supplier licenses be distributed across five regions in Pennsylvania. In a letter to the gaming board, noted gaming critic Rep. Paul Clymer (R-Bucks) said the regional approach “will only make the public more cynical of the state’s gambling law that already is perceived as favoring the rich, the powerful and the connected.”
But Rep. Jake Wheatley Jr. (D-Allegheny) applauded it as a way to get more minority and women-owned businesses involved, which is one of the gaming board’s goals.
The gaming board has now opened its first round of manufacturer applications, which will close in mid-August.
Commissioners also recounted a recent trip to Nova Scotia to attend the North American Gaming Regulators Association Conference. They said they heard that some regulators require such “responsible gaming” techniques as machine time-outs to cool off avid gamblers, and scrolling messages with gambling hotline numbers along the tops of machines.
There is no word yet on whether Pennsylvania will follow suit.
Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or ahawkes@calkins-media.com.