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Under the Tables: Buried clause would have favored one casino over another
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Under the Tables: Buried clause would have favored one casino over another
This is the first installment in a series.
The City Paper has found that a clause in some versions of SB711 - the bill that would legalize table games in Pennsylvania casinos – would give a competitive advantage to one particular applicant – Wyo Gaming, L.C. – for the only un-awarded casino license in Pa.
That competitor, moreover, is represented by Stephen Wojdak, a major Harrisburg lobbyist, who represents several casinos, and whose political action committees have bundled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Harrisburg politicians.
Finally, the fact that this language – giving Wyo Gaming, L.C. an advantage – was stripped from the bill by the state Senate appears to be a significant reason that table games legislation has been held up by House Democrats.
That's the executive summary. Now let's get down to it:
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| philly.com |
| Big shot: Wojdak talking to former Senator Fumo. The lobbyist represents several casinos and has poured money into Harrisburg. The tiny clause in SB711 would favor his client, Wyo Gaming, L.C. |
The table games bill, as you may have read, is currently stalled in Harrisburg.
House Democrats – the same who stuffed the bill with earmarks and concessions to the casinos (like letting them extend credit to slots players), rammed it through the House and voted to cut off debate – those same Democrats are suddenly refusing to approve seemingly small changes made by the Senate.
A pretty good question to ask is: why? What are those changes, whom do they affect, and who cares about them so much that Democrats now won't approve the bill?
Some of those answers are being reported: Philadelphia delegates are upset over language that would channel Philly's local share of dollars from the city fund to a state agency that would award the money to local entities, for example.
But here's one you haven't heard about.
The bill that passed the House a week and a half ago contained, buried deep within, this clause
(ii) No Category 3 license which was authorized by this part after November 30, 2009, shall be located by the board within 30 linear miles of another licensed facility.
Pretty obscure stuff, right? Yet one of the few changes made after the House passed the bill was that the Senate removed this little phrase. And, according to sources, doing so caused the Democratic caucus to erupt.
Why?
Because, according to multiple sources and my own research, that tiny little phrase would have a big impact on a lot of money – albeit for just a few people.
Only one casino license, a so-called "Class 3" resort license, remains un-awarded. The application period is over, and there are only two bidders: Bushkill Group, Inc., associated with the Fernwood Hotel and Resort in East Stroudsburg in the Poconos; and Wyo Gaming, L.P., associated with the Crown Plaza Reading Hotel in Wyomissing, Pa.
There are two bidders – but only one is situated "within 30 linear miles of another licensed facility" – which, if the little clause above had passed would have disqualified it from getting a table games license.
The Poconos location is well within 30 linear miles of the Mt. Airy Casino. (see map below).
The Wyomissing, location, however, happens to be just over 30 linear miles from the three nearest casinos.
That's right: The obscure bit of legalese above would prevent the Poconos location from getting a license to host table games – giving the Wyomissing location an obvious advantage in securing the casino license from the Gaming Board.
Who actually put that little clause into the bill? We don't know – yet – but we do know a few things:
Wyomissing Gaming, L.C. is represented by one Stephen Wojdak, of S.R. Wojdak & Associates, one of the most powerful lobbyists in Pennsylvania.
Don't take my word for it: Just enter 'Wojdak' into the state campaign contributor database, and you'll soon be swimming in contributions made by Wojdak himself, his firm, and - more importantly - the several Political Action Committees he controls, which have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into politicians' campaign coffers.
Wojdak's involvement with any and all casino legislation is well-known: Besides Wyo Gaming, L.C., he represents The Rivers Casino, Sugarhouse, and Mount Airy.
(Oh, and he once took a little heat when it was discovered that his two young children were listed as principals in a casino-supply company. At the time, it was illegal for anyone with an interest in such a company to make political donations).
Sources in Harrisburg confirm that Wojdak was a frequent presence during discussions over the table games legislation.
They do not say how or by whose hand the clause that would favor Wojdak's client got into the bill - but one points out that the casino is located in Berks county, just across the river from Reading – an area represented by Rep. Dante Santoni, the same Santoni who masterminded the bill and led it through the House.
None of this is to say that Wojdak, or anyone else for that matter, has done anything wrong or broken any laws. Indeed, Wojdak is a registered lobbyist and we can expect him to lobby.
But if someone rigged the law to favor a particular casino venture we think it's worth pointing out.And it raises serious questions about the intent of this law, and who really wrote it.
*
Below are some crude google maps of the locations. A linear mileage distance calculator confirmed source reports that the 30-mile law would affect one, and not the other, of the competitors for the last casino license.
Map 1: Bushkill's intended casino is within 30 miles of the Mt. Airy Casino.
View Fernwood Hotel and Resort in a larger map
Map 2: Wyo Gaming, L.C.'s intended casino is just over thirty miles from the three nearest casinos.
View casinos in a larger map
[...] reminded in particular of the case of lobbyist Stephen Wojdak, which I wrote about during the table games debate last winter. Wojdak, a powerful lobbyist said to [...]
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