Don't link gambling bills
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share thisThe state Senate has taken up a good bill to help improve the state's flawed law governing casino gambling, as the House has begun to consider expansion beyond slot machines, to table games.
Smelling the potential for a deal - regulatory reform in exchange for expansion - Republicans in both houses warned against it, and they're right.
It is crucial that the reform bill passes regardless of what happens to the table-games bill or to Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to allow video poker machines in bars statewide.
The Senate reform bill would address some, but not all, of the matters that plague the existing law. Before any gambling expansion takes place, this bill should be expanded into a comprehensive reform measure.
On the positive side, the bill would reinstate a ban on political contributions to state politicians by casino interests, which the state Supreme Court recently invalidated. And it would improve ethics enforcement by barring outside employment for new appointees to the state Gaming Control Board while prohibiting former board employees and lawyers from working for a gambling interest for two years after leaving the board.
Unfortunately, the bill does not resolve lingering questions about gambling enforcement and the composition of the board itself.
Still, it is worthy of passing, irrespective of the expansion issue, which should be considered on its own merit. Reform is too important to be used merely as leverage.
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