Ex-Justice Says He Didn't Lobby For Casino GroupPOSTED: 7:05 pm EST February 2,
2010 HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A former chief state Supreme Court justice has been paid $550,000 by three casinos through an organization that, he told lawmakers Tuesday, had sought his help in establishing a statewide trade group to more effectively speak for the industry.However, former Justice Stephen A. Zappala told an unusual session before a joint House-Senate panel that he had not lobbied for the casinos or discussed gambling issues with any sitting Supreme Court justices."I insisted that my office and my title would never be used for lobbying purposes," Zappala said, recounting his agreement with a Philadelphia lawyer, Richard Sprague, who had asked Zappala to work for the Pennsylvania Casino Association.Zappala, who appeared with six other casino or association officials, also said he had let his law license lapse, saying it otherwise would be a "prostitution" of his position.Zappala, 77, served on the Supreme Court for 20 years through 2002, the last as its chief justice. He retired when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He then served until late 2007 as an adviser to his successor as chief justice, Ralph Cappy.In March 2008, he agreed to work as a consultant for the casino association. He drew a salary of $275,000 in both 2008 and 2009, although he asked to receive a lower salary of $150,000 in 2010.The association has received a total of more than $1.5 million since 2007 from three casinos: Mount Airy, SugarHouse and The Rivers, association officials said.Sprague, a SugarHouse investor and the former president of the state's Court of Judicial Discipline, said he recruited Zappala because the former chief justice could be influential in persuading casino executives to join."The fact that I have Chief Justice Zappala working with me ... is what gives me a voice," Sprague said in response to questions from Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny.So far, just three of the state's 12 casino licensees have joined.Zappala does not appear on the group's 2008 federal tax-exemption filing, an absence that Sprague attributed to Zappala lacking an actual title.In 2009, Sprague said, he gave Zappala the title of chairman.The 2009 filing is not available yet.The purpose of the hearing was to question why the casino association had not registered under the state's lobbyist disclosure law.The association was obscure until last year, when it began advocating positions in regard to the Legislature's consideration of a bill to legalize table games at the state's casinos. The bill passed last month.The group sent three e-mails to legislators and ran a radio advertisement that warned that a state tax above 12 percent on table games would mean fewer jobs and higher taxes for state residents.Sprague maintained Tuesday, as he did in a Dec. 1 letter to House Gaming Oversight Chairman Dante Santoni, D-Berks, that the association's activities do not meet the state's legal definition of lobbying.Still, Sen. Jane Earll, who chairs the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, said the group has violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the law.Earll, R-Erie, pointed out that its articles of incorporation discuss representing the industry before the Legislature and said the association's officials could have avoided being hauled before the committee by simply registering."By your refusal, or cutesiness, with not registering, you make it seem suspicious, even if it's not suspicious," Earll told Sprague.Undaunted, Sprague attacked the worthiness of the three-plus hour-hearing, and said the association's advocacy was far more transparent than that of lobbyists who quietly won special provisions in the table games bill."If I was in your position," Sprague told her, "I'd take a look at that rather than this Mickey Mouse thing."
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