HARRISBURG -- The General Assembly's biggest opponent of slot machines, Rep. Paul Clymer, hasn't stopped trying to pull the plug on Act 71 of 2004, the law that's set to bring 14 slots casinos to Pennsylvania.

"Slot machines will make great changes to the Pennsylvania landscape, making it look more like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and many people don't want the social problems that go with it," the suburban Philadelphia Republican said last week.

He's introduced a bill to repeal the slots law, but with the first casinos expected to be licensed by the state later this year, few legislators give Mr. Clymer's bill much chance.

"Repeal [of the slots law] is remote," said Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair.

The best that slots opponents can do is mold the law a little more to their liking, such as by getting rid of a current provision that lets elected officials own up to 1 percent or a casino gambling company. The odds of doing that look pretty good.

"We need to remove any doubt or suspicion by the public that legislators and public officials are involved in owning or profiting from casinos," Mr. Clymer said. "That would be a blight on our record."

That change is in just one of two dozen or more casino-related amendments expected to be discussed in the state House in early March.

Some provisions likely face easy sailing, such as a move to give Attorney General Tom Corbett more authority in directing investigations into problem casinos.

But other amendments seem likely to spark disputes, such as a move to scrap the provision in the current law that prohibits elected officials from getting a "discount" on prices of rooms and meals at casino.

Act 71 legalizes slots parlors at seven racetracks, five non-track locations (including one in Pittsburgh) and two casinos at resort hotels, likely to be Nemacolin Woodlands and Seven Springs.

As enacted, Act 71 prevents public officials from getting "complimentary," or completely free rooms, meals, drinks or other services.

But one amendment in the House GOP amendment bill would allow public officials to receive "discounted" prices on food, drinks, entertainment and hotel rooms at casinos.

Critics fear that allowing discounts could still lead to abuses.

"This proposed change certainly opens the door to public officials receiving travel, meals, rooms and entertainment for as little as a nominal fee of $1. We are concerned," said Christopher Craig, an aide to Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, and one of the authors of Act 71.

Mr. Maher agreed, saying, "Public officials should be treated exactly the same as the general public."

Another pro-slots legislator, Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver Falls, also thinks the discounted prices for state officials is a bad idea.

"The public needs to have confidence in the gaming industry at every level," he said, fearing this amendment "would undermine that confidence."

Mr. Veon, who is hoping to bring a new racetrack/casino to Beaver County, said that giving public officials discounts "would elevate them to a sort of 'ruling class' that would get breaks on food, drinks or lodging at slot facilities that regular folks wouldn't get."

Barry Kauffman, director of Common Cause/Pennsylvania, added, "We're less than two years into this slots law and it sounds like we're already headed down a slippery slope."

Stephen Miskin, an aide to House Republican leader Sam Smith, said as Act 71 now reads, a Pennsylvania lawmaker attending a gaming convention in, say, Las Vegas cannot use the "government rate" for hotel rooms.

That, he said, is because the existing law prohibits any discounted rates for Pennsylvania officials.

Under the proposed change, Mr. Miskin said, a Pennsylvania lawmaker could rent a room for $150 a night, if that is the government rate, rather than paying the full rate or, say, $300.

He said the change won't lead to $1-a-night rooms because public officials would have to pay whatever a hotel's standard government rate is.

The 41-page omnibus amendment bill developed by House Republicans is now being circulated among legislators for comment and could come up for action when legislators return to session March 6.

The bill also would exempt the state's 14 casinos from state wiretapping laws and would create five "alternate members" for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. These alternates would be empowered to vote on a group's application for a slots license if one of the seven regular board members had to abstain from voting due to a conflict of interest.

The bill would permit electronic surveillance of employee conversations in what is known as the "count room" -- the room where the cash that was gambled and lost in slot machines on the gaming floor is taken to be counted.

The amendment also says that employees would have to be notified of the surveillance by means of a sign that is "posted conspicuously in the counting room."

"It's an anti-theft and security issue," said Alberto Lopez, a spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment. "If the room is breached, I want eyes" and ears in there.

Typically, exceptions to the state's wiretapping and surveillance laws are reserved for utilities, law enforcement officials and companies who record phone calls for in-house training.

Other proposed changes would:

Let out-of-state casino executives give political contributions to Pennsylvania officials. Currently, they are barred from doing so, although contributions made before the casino licenses were filed were not prohibited. Officials of in-state casinos would continue to be barred from political giving, a situation that some Pennsylvania casino applicants are already complaining about.

Require the Gaming Control Board to issue slots licenses to the seven racetracks before considering licenses for the non-tracks and resort hotels. The track slots licenses are expected to be issued this fall.

Increase the number of state casino officials who are prohibited from wagering at a Pennsylvania casino. Not only would all seven gaming board members and more than 100 board employees be prohibited, but independent contractors doing business with the board would also be banned from betting at an in-state slots parlor.