"Gaming Control Board Has Been Unmitigated Success," PA Gaming Control Board Chair States in Response to Grand Jury Report

Greg Fajt says all Pennsylvanians are reaping benefits from the Board's efforts to launch and grow legalized gaming

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today said a report released by the 31st Investigating Statewide Grand Jury critical of the early practices of the Board is simply a rehash of "old news" at a significant cost to taxpayers.

Chairman Greg Fajt says the Board spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with demands by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office including over 4,000 man-hours to recover and produce over 2.7 million pages of documents over the last two plus years. He says all of this effort ultimately failed to prove any wrongdoing by the Board or its employees.  

"The Board has steadfastly and repeatedly said that we did our work well, we have protected the public, and the citizens of Pennsylvania are reaping tremendous dividends from our work," Fajt said.  "After this grand jury met for more than 2 years, there were no arrests, no presentments, no indictments. They found no criminal activity because there was, in fact, no criminal activity to be found."

Fajt says the report offered today by the grand jury presented little more than what has been reported in news stories and, in the end, suggests steps for improvement, many of which the Board has already undertaken.

The PGCB was the first newly created state agency in 30 years and, Fajt says, was given a mandate to license up to 14 casinos in an accelerated timeframe.  He says that meant the original Board was charged with swiftly finding qualified staff and office space, writing and approving regulations, and conducting investigations on tens of thousands of individuals and business entities.

"Given the huge task the first Board members were asked to undertake, the PGCB has been an unmitigated success and is nationally recognized as a leader in gaming regulation.  Clearly, as with any new organization, there were minor missteps along the way, none of which affected the final judgments and integrity of the Board. But, the Board learned from those and improved its processes," he says. "Our BIE unit has completed over 40,000 investigations and this report calls into question only a handful of those.  I think that's a pretty good record."

Fajt also notes that Pennsylvania already ranks far above any other state which offers legalized gaming in the amount of tax revenue being returned to its citizens, and is poised to become the second largest gaming market in gross revenue in the United States less than five years after the opening of the first casino.  To date, since the first casino opening, legalized casino gaming has returned $5.1 billion to the Commonwealth in tax revenue and license fees and is employing 14,000 persons in family-sustaining jobs.

Fajt says that the Board staff, in the midst of its regular oversight responsibilities, successfully launched table games into Pennsylvania casinos last year without skipping a beat.  That resulted in additional tax revenue and over 5,000 more jobs, most being filled by Pennsylvania residents.  

"If that does not spell success, I don't know what does," he says.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry. Currently, the ten casinos in operation in the Commonwealth employ over 14,000 people and legalized gaming has generated over $5.1 billion in tax and license fee revenue since the first casino opened in November 2006. A portion of that money is enabling property tax reduction for all Pennsylvania homeowners, providing needed funding to the Commonwealth's horse racing industry, funding grants for fire companies and water/sewer projects, and establishing a new stream of tax revenue to local governments for community projects. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us. At this web site, visitors can view videos of Board meetings and on the operation of the PGCB, obtain information on identifying a gambling problem and gaining assistance, look up future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, access an interactive map of casino locations, request a speaker for their group, along with much more information.

CONTACT: Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey
(717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board