For nearly 30 years, Louisiana’s casinos have been prohibited from contributing to political candidates to prevent possible corruption, but an amendment slipped onto a legislative bill Monday with no public attention would lift that ban.
State Sen. Thomas Pressly said in an interview that he sought the change at the behest of an attorney for Penn Entertainment, a major gambling company with five riverboat casinos in Louisiana. Pressly, R-Shreveport, would not identify the attorney.
“I believe it’s a clean- up bill that’s dealing with allowing a corporation to give contributions that are fully disclosed,” he said of the amendment, which was narrowly approved by the Senate Finance Committee Monday.
