HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell says he supports changes to the state's 5-year-old slots law that were recommended last week by Dauphin County District Attorney Edward Marsico.

The most important change would be to have the governor name all seven members of the state Gaming Control Board and then have them confirmed by the state Senate, Mr. Rendell said.

Currently the four top General Assembly leaders, Republican and Democratic, each name one board member, and the governor names the other three. But no Senate confirmation is required. If one of the legislative appointees votes against a casino license, that kills it, giving legislative leaders, in effect, veto power over licenses.

Mr. Rendell confirmed that his chief of staff, Greg Fajt of Mt. Lebanon, will become the new gaming board chairman by late June, once the current chairwoman, Mary D. Colins, leaves the post. He said Mr. Fajt, a former state revenue secretary and former legislator, has excellent judgment and work ethic. He will be on the board for three years.

Mr. Marsico also said any felony conviction -- anytime in the past -- should bar an applicant from getting a state-issued casino license or a vendor's license to do business with casinos. One current licensee, Scranton businessman Louis DeNaples, owner of Mt. Airy Casino in the Poconos, had a federal conviction in 1978. But that didn't count against him because the current slots law says that if a felony conviction is more than 15 years old, it can't be considered.

Mr. Marsico recommended changing the agency that does background investigations of casino license applicants. Now, the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, an arm of the Gaming Board, does many of them, but critics say it's not an official law enforcement agency and thus is barred from getting access to an applicant's official criminal records.

Mr. Marsico said the attorney general or state police could get such access to criminal records and should be doing the background checks.

Mr. Marsico also said that proceedings and hearings in the licensing process should be open to the public and press, instead of most of them being closed, as they are now.

Senate and House Republicans have been calling for substantial changes in the slots law, but Democrats have seemed noncommittal. Mr. Rendell said he will talk to legislative Democrats about making the changes.

Mr. Rendell said he is making other changes in his staff. Legislative Director Steve Crawford will move up to replace Mr. Fajt as chief of staff, and Colleen Kopp, who has worked in the past for both Mr. Rendell and ex-Rep. Mike Veon, will replace Mr. Crawford.

Ms. Kopp was mentioned in the recent grand jury presentment where Mr. Veon was charged with misusing state funds for a nonprofit group, the Beaver Initiative for Growth. But Mr. Rendell said she has assured him she has done nothing wrong, adding, "I believe her and trust her.''