Despite concerns about the vetting of casino owners, a state grand jury investigation and the amount of money pensioners feed into slot machines, the gambling industry has brought more good than harm to Pennsylvania, state Gaming Control Board members said Thursday.
In an interview with Tribune-Review editors and reporters, the officials, including two newest members,
A grand jury empaneled by the state attorney general's office two years ago to look into how the board awarded casino licenses cost the board enormous amounts of time and resources, said Chairman Gregory Fajt of Mt. Lebanon, who is touring Western Pennsylvania casinos with the new members and Executive Director Kevin O'Toole.
The board produced 2.7 million documents and spent 4,000 man-hours cooperating with investigators, and "they are still interviewing people," Fajt said.
"It's costing us a lot," O'Toole said. He noted a grand jury investigation into Alabama's casino industry produced 12 indictments in half the time this investigation has taken. "This grand jury has been sitting for quite a long time. ... We just think most of the topics are old stuff."
The Attorney General's office said it could not comment on grand jury investigations.
The board has three licenses to award -- one each to a harness racing track and a resort, and a stand-alone one earmarked for Philadelphia. The board revoked the Philadelphia license from Foxwoods Casino, which is suing to get it back.
Board member and former House Speaker Keith McCall of Carbon County indicated some support for a plan in the Legislature to decouple the license from Philadelphia, which has one casino. With suburban casinos in the area, there are "already four casinos right there. ... Will you get a return on your investment if you put it in Philadelphia?"
Anthony Moscato, a former Cameron County commissioner appointed to the board with McCall this year, said he spent weeks speed-reading presentations and evidence from resort casino applicants, including Nemacolin Woodlands resort in Fayette County. He said he'll be "ready, certainly by the spring" to vote on the license.
"My hope is we'll have a vote on that in two months," Fajt said. "We have four applicants. All of them are still in the hunt."
McCall, who watched videos of hearings to get a sense of the "emotion" of the applicants, said he's ready to vote.
"I could very easily make a decision," said McCall. "I'm ready to cast a vote," though he declined to say for whom.
The other applicants want to put casinos near Harrisburg, Gettysburg and in the Poconos.
Another resort license has been tied up in a court fight for 18 months, delaying construction. The board cannot prevent the same fate from befalling this license when it's awarded, Fajt said.
"This is a very litigious industry," Fajt said. "When we get sued, we get sued by people with very deep pockets, like Donald Trump."
Fajt said lawsuits and controversies have overshadowed the good the industry has done for the state, including saving the horse breeding industry, generating $4 billion in tax money for the state and employing 14,232 people.
The average homeowner received about $570 in property tax reductions during the past three years, but few realize it because the money appears as a line on tax bills rather than checks in mailboxes, board members said. The money spent by gamblers to pay for those tax breaks is their choice, Fajt said.
"If some senior is over there spending money and will have less for their kids, that's their decision. It doesn't bother me," he said.
Asked if he is concerned about money going into out-of-state casino owners' pockets, Fajt said: "People are going to do what they want to do with their money."
"It's still 14,000 jobs," McCall added.
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