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As state lawmakers trickle back to Harrisburg, state residents might be interested to know how the legislators spent their unduly long summer vacations.
Not surprisingly, some spent at least part of it in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with special-interest lobbyists.
Pace-O-Matic, which produces the slot-machine-like video gambling devices known as "skill games," which have proliferated in gas stations and convenience stores, whisked five state lawmakers to Cheyenne Frontier Days, billed as the world's largest outdoor rodeo and celebration of Western American culture. The state estimates Pennsylvania has about 50,000 of the gambling machines.
Only one of them -- Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R-Bellefonte), who represents part of Mifflin County and is House majority leader -- did the right thing and reimbursed Pace-O-Matic for the $1,700 cost of the junket. Others left the company to pick up the tab.
The devices are controversial because they are not regulated like casinos or the lottery. Neither the state nor casinos get a cut. Casinos have lobbied furiously against the devices, and that lobbying has produced pro- and anti-convenience-store gambling advocates, and not necessarily along strict party lines.
Since 2019, state records show, the "skill games" industry has contributed more than $1.2 million to the campaigns of Pennsylvania politicians. The ostensible purpose of the rodeo trip was for Pennsylvania lawmakers to learn how their Wyoming counterparts had handled the non-casino gambling device issue.
Meanwhile back at the ranch -- the Pennsylvania Capitol -- legislators wine and dine with lobbyists and continue to refuse to entertain a ban on "gifts." They may accept "gifts" in any amount but must disclose anything worth more than $250 and travel and hospitality of more than $650.
It's time for that policy to ride off into the sunset.
-- Scranton Times-Tribune