close

Pulling strings

3 min read

Slots supplier license questioned By Alison Hawks

For the Herald-Standard

State law says that an applicant for a gambling license cannot make political contributions. The reason is obvious: to curtail the degree of political influence from what will be a multi-billion dollar industry.

But even the most explicitly written law can be easily undermined. This week, state gambling regulators handed out a slots supplier license to a company owned, in part, by the two underage children of Harrisburg’s most prominent lobbyist and a big time political contributor, Steve Wojdak.

The gaming board’s chairman Tad Decker said the supplier license includes conditions that don’t allow money from the kids’ investment trust to be used for everyday expenses like food, education, medical bills, and the like. When they turn 18, however, the kids can do as they like with the trust.

Wojdak has given more than $50,000 to political campaigns and political action committees since his kids’ company, Liberty Gaming Distributors LP, filed its application to be the middleman suppliers of slots machines.

Wodjak also lobbies for gambling interests.

“He has nothing to do with that trust,” Decker said. “He’s not permitted. He can’t benefit from any of the proceeds.”

Well, that’s just fine if you actually believe that a parent doesn’t “benefit” from seeing his kids set up financially, or that a parent has nothing whatsoever to do with making that fortune happen in some way or another.

Republicans recently led an effort to eliminate suppliers altogether because they seem more like make-work for political patronage. But that effort failed.

Wonder why, with Wodjak on the scene?Remember the little lieutenant governor snafu in March, in which former Montgomery County Congressman Joe Hoeffel unexpectedly turned his candidacy announcement into a bow out of the race?

Gov. Ed Rendell carefully pulled those strings, saying he couldn’t risk having a running mate from the Southeast.

Well, no one expected Hoeffel, whose political ambitions also include an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in 2004, to be gone for good after doing the governor’s bidding.

Sure enough, Rendell recently hired Hoeffel into his administration, handing him a $104,431 job to head the state’s Office of International Business.

Hoeffel does have some international creds after serving on the House Committee on International Relations. But Republicans were quick to the draw, saying in a state GOP press release that “Pennsylvania working families will be happy to know their governor hands out $104,431 of their hard-earned tax dollars to return a favor to a friend.”

Snooze

The biggest news in the governor’s race this week is Lynn Swann accepting a paid speaking engagement at a vending machine industry convention in Florida next month.

Gov. Ed Rendell’s campaign is saying his GOP opponent shouldn’t be paid to speak while running for public office, and Swann is taking sides in a public debate over junk food in schools.

Swann then quibbles back over Rendell’s various paid moonlighting arrangements.

This is fine debate, but is this all there is? For such a race with such national attention, you’d expect there to be more juice than this. And what about the U.S. Senate race between Rick Santorum and Bob Casey Jr.? That too has become a bit of a dud.

Is this just summer doldrums? Or are these two supposedly high profile races going to continue to cruise at low altitude?

Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or by e-mail at ahawkes@calkins-medial.com.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today