BY SHARON SMITH
Of The Patriot-News
Republican lawmakers plan to introduce legislation this month that would make the bureau charged with investigating applicants for slot-machine licenses more independent from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
The Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement conducts background investigations of slot-machine applicants and casino employees. It receives funding and oversight from the gaming board.
The bureau receives some assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police, but the bureau is considered the lead agency in investigating license applicants.
State Reps. Doug Reichley, R-Berks/Lehigh, and Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, want to change that arrangement. They propose legislation that would give the state attorney general more control of the process and generally lessen the gaming board's role.
For example, the attorney general would supervise and jointly conduct background investigations with the bureau and state police. The bill also would have the attorney general determine the scope of the investigation, not the gaming board.
One reason for bringing in the attorney general's office would be to create a clear sense of independence and remove the legal turf battle between the state police and gaming board in sharing background information.
The issue of sharing information came to light in early August when the name of Louis DeNaples surfaced in connection with a grand jury investigation in Dauphin County.
DeNaples plans to open the state's first standalone casino in October in Monroe County. Former gaming board Chairman Tad Decker had said the grand jury investigation must be based on new information because the board's background investigation did not reveal anything that would prevent DeNaples from getting a slot-machine license.
Days before the board approved applicants for slots licenses, Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, head of the state police, sent Decker a letter dated Dec. 20, 2006, indicating that his agency had cooperated with the board and the board should be in position to properly determine an applicant's suitability for a gaming license.
However, Miller offered no assurances that new information about applicants wouldn't be developed.
"Obviously, we cannot speak for other law enforcement agencies, nor can we be expected to predict when and if they may develop further information," Miller wrote. "Certainly, we are not in a position to forecast if and when action may be taken by any such agency or to divine what effect it may have on the board's licensing decision."
That's the kind of confusion the legislators' bill hopes to eliminate.
Under the proposed legislation, both the state police and the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement would forward information to the attorney general, who would be the point of contact for the gaming board, Reichley said.
"We're looking to sanitize this process," Reichley said. "We're looking to restore some credibility to and some independence to the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement so people trust what's going on there."
Reichley and Vereb also want the attorney general to have a say in who runs the bureau. They propose that the attorney general and the gaming board jointly appoint a bureau director.
The lawmakers' proposal also calls for making the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement budget independent.
"If we screen our applicants with an independent Bureau of Investigation, we are able to find out more about those applicants," Vereb said. "We want the budget controlled by the General Assembly and the governor just like it is in every other department."
The lawmakers' proposal does not appear to have much support in Gov. Ed Rendell's office.
"It's difficult to see what detaching the bureau from the Gaming Control Board would accomplish other than establish a new bureaucracy," said Chuck Ardo, spokesman for the governor's office.
Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans, said measures in the bill would not create another layer of bureaucracy because the duties already exist.
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