HARRISBURG -- For two years, House Republicans, including Rep. Ron Marsico of Dauphin County, have been insisting on changes in the 2004 law that authorizes 14 slots casinos in Pennsylvania.

Now they're getting help from Mr. Marsico's cousin, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward Marsico, who wrote to Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders last week urging them to correct what he sees as weaknesses in the law.

"I urge you ... to enact specific and necessary changes to the Pennsylvania Gaming Act," he said.

Both Marsicos want the Legislature to revise the way that the financial and criminal backgrounds of casino license applicants are investigated. Such investigatory power should be removed from the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, an arm of the state Gaming Control Board, they said, and given to "a real law enforcement agency," either the state police or the attorney general.

Doing so, they said, would allow state investigators to have full access to a casino applicant's criminal history, data that gaming board officials aren't allowed to see. This inability to see such data, said Ron Marsico, "has cast a cloud of Pennsylvania's fledgling gaming industry."

Last week, Edward Marsico dropped perjury charges that he'd filed against Poconos casino owner Louis DeNaples over a year ago. One reason, he said, was the "linguistically imprecise" way that state gaming officials asked Mr. DeNaples questions. The district attorney said that the poor questioning would have made it hard to secure a perjury conviction.

"Perjury requires that an investigator ask precise questions, not ambiguous questions," he said.

Another revision in the law is related to the DeNaples case. The casino owner had a conviction in 1978 after pleading no contest to charges that he'd bilked the federal government out of $525,000 in recovery funds after a 1972 hurricane.

The slots law now says that a slots license applicant cannot have a felony conviction in the previous 15 years. Edward Marsico wants that 15-year limit removed, meaning that a felony conviction anytime in an applicant's past would bar him or her from getting a license.

He also urged a major change in the way the seven Gaming Board members are selected. Now, four are named by General Assembly leaders and three by Mr. Rendell. Edward Marsico said all seven should be named by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

This is similar to a change recommended in February by House Republican leader Sam Smith of Punxsutawney, who wants the Gaming Board to have five members, all named by the governor. But persuading some General Assembly leaders to give up their appointment power could be difficult.

Edward Marsico also recommended that all proceedings in the slots licensing application process "should be open to be public," which contrasts with the closed-door interviews the Gaming Board used to issue the 12 slots licenses awarded to date.

"An open process would enable the news media and other concerned citizens to monitor and assist the gaming board by providing useful information on applicants," Edward Marsico said.

Gaming Board spokesman Richard McGarvey was noncommittal about Mr. Marsico's ideas. He said they've all "been vetted at gaming task force hearings" run by Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie. Gaming Board members "will continue to be involved" in such discussions, he added.

No slots licensing process have been considered by the House, which is controlled 104-99 by Democrats. Democratic spokesman Brett Marcy was also noncommittal about the district attorney's ideas.

"Some are certainly worth considering," Mr. Marcy said, "but we must be careful not to rush legislation through the process without thoroughly examining all the pros and cons."

He maintained that House Democrats are committed to improving "our relatively young gaming industry."