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Josephs joins call for transparency in casino licensing process

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 11 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., said she is supporting a call by Casino Free Philadelphia for the state Gaming Control Board to provide more information about the applications it is considering from prospective slots casinos in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the state.

The organization is in Harrisburg today to press for a halt in the casino licensing process until the public is given access to more information about the casino companies and their Pennsylvania casino proposals.

"The slots licensing process was supposed to be a public process, but aside from some obligatory hearings and the sketchy information posted on the Gaming Control Board Web site, neither the slots applicants nor the Gaming Control Board have made a concerted effort to involve or adequately inform the public about this process," Josephs said.

"Here in Philadelphia, the new casinos will impact scores of neighborhoods and thousands of residents, yet the public and their elected officials still do not have access to what is in the casino applications – the information that the Gaming Control Board will be basing its decisions on.

"The public needs that information, and I see no proprietary reason why most of what is currently being withheld by these casino companies and the Gaming Control Board cannot and should not be made public."

Josephs pointed out that information currently available to the public about the license applicants does not include details about the traffic, environmental or neighborhood impact of the proposed casinos. The public does not even have access to details about the proposed design of the casinos.

"In many cases, proposals for the casinos have been altered or changed since the public hearings that were held, making the public comments gathered in those hearings effectively pointless," she said.

"If indeed one of the reasons for the licensing process was to ensure that casinos do not negatively impact the places they are located in or the people who live there, then the public and the men and women who represent them in city and state government must have access to the same information that the Gaming Control Board has access to. This is the only way that local residents, not just the Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg – can have a say on whether these casinos – any of them – are a wise investment in our state or our community."

Josephs, who represents Center City Philadelphia, played a significant role in the state legislature in ensuring that the final slots law did not eliminate the role of Philadelphia's zoning laws in the siting of proposed casinos in the city, and that land conveyance for the casinos remained subject to local input and the authority of the state legislature.