Pennsylvania has not heard the last of the tale of bringing legalized gambling to the state, but the story grows more disturbing with every new development.

It was just last month that the initial 1,100 slot machines (out of a possible 61,000 slots allowed by law) began operating at one location. And already, a leading legislator is pushing to bring table games such as poker and blackjack to the state's yet-to-be-built casinos.

State Rep. H. WIlliam DeWeese, D-Greene, who is expected to become the new House speaker in January, is drafting legislation to legalize table games in Pennsylvania casinos.

Gov. Ed Rendell says he feels it's too early to expand gambling, but the tone of his comments suggests he believes slot machines will be joined by other forms of gambling in time.

And just a week before the first Pennsylvania slot machine took its first coin, state lawmakers, working in a lame duck session with defeated and retiring legislators voting, created an exemption to the state's liquor law that allows only one free alcoholic drink per person, so that casinos will be allowed to serve unlimited free drinks from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m.

The legislation, approved late in the evening on the final day of the legislative session, would also allow free alcoholic beverages to be served at racetracks with slot machines, despite earlier prohibitions against free drinks being served at racetracks,

Admittedly, free drinks are customary at casinos, so this development probably was inevitable. But why didn't Rendell and other gambling supporters explain to the public from the beginning that if slot machines were approved, casinos would be serving free liquor all night long?

Rendell rebuffed those who worry about alcohol abuse in casinos, saying, "There is a tendency to think that these gaming institutions or gaming businesses want people to get falling-down, sloppy drunk so that they'll lose more money. That isn't the case."

Maybe not sloppy drunk, but clearly it helps casinos to have gamblers loosened up and happy. Retailers probably would like the same kind of happy customers — people with a few drinks under their belts and money to spend. Pennsylvanians might buy more cars, TVs or appliances if free alcohol were served at malls, car dealerships, electronics stores and home improvement centers. Maybe lottery ticket sales would go up if free drinks were offered at the local lottery kiosk.

If serving free alcohol didn't result in people gambling more — and losing more — why does Rendell think casinos do it?

Even if most people expected that free drinks would accompany legalized gambling, casino boosters were less than honest in not painting a complete picture from the start. In fact, who can doubt that the 2 a.m. shutoff for free drinks at casinos will someday be eliminated by lawmakers beholding to casino interests?

A more disturbing aspect of bringing legalized gambling to Pennsylvania is that during the most active period for gambling interests to influence legislation and get the conditions they want, Pennsylvania had no lobbyist- reporting law. As the only state without lobbyist reporting and regulation laws, citizens of this state were left to guess at the extent of the favors and political contributions passed out in Harrisburg to lay the groundwork for casinos in Pennsylvania.

Gambling interests working the Senate are estimated to have spent over $10 million between January 2003 and June 2005, which was coincidental timing considering the fact that the state's lobbyist-reporting law was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2002 — and the state legislature did not pass a new law until the fall of 2006.

Clearly, millions of dollars have been spent by the gambling industry to influence lawmakers in Harriburg. But voters can only guess at the contributions, favors, gifts and travel that lawmakers accepted.

The introduction of slot-machine gambling has been troubling from the start, and it's barely begun.

Bringing legalized gambling to Pennyslvania has been characterized by a string of questionable decisions by lawmakers. The late night, lame-duck vote to allow unlimited free drinks in casinos was just one more — at least in the way it was handled. And with casino licenses not yet awarded and operating stand-alone casinos more than a year away, this disturbing story is far from over.

— J.L.W.III