HARRISBURG -- As a Senate panel moved to resurrect a law banning casino officials from donating politically to legislators and other elected officials, a citizens watchdog group said such high-powered gaming interests gave $4.4 million to state politicians from 2001-08.

Lawyers and lobbyists for the 14 casinos authorized by a 2004 state law contributed an additional $12.3 million, according to a report by Common Cause/Pennsylvania released yesterday.

The top casino industry contributor was Philadelphia equity fund manager Ira Lubert, an investor in Pittsburgh's Rivers Casino, who gave a total of $456,000. No. 16 on donors list was Chicago businessman Neil Bluhm, a major investor in the Pittsburgh casino, at $49,000.

The slots law, enacted in July 2004, didn't take full effect for more than a year due to court challenges from casino opponents. The state Supreme Court upheld it in mid-2005. One provision banned political contributions to politicians from in-state casino officials but not those based in other states.

The total of $16.7 million in contributions listed by Common Cause was made from 2001 to mid-2005, when the ban on in-state contributions was upheld. That total also includes seven years of donations from out-of-state casino industry officials, said Common Cause official James Browning.

In April, the ban on political contributions by in-state casino officials was struck down by the state Supreme Court. It had been challenged by Philadelphia developer Peter DePaul, who at $426,000 is No. 2 on Common Cause's list of gambling industry donors.

The top receiver of 2001-08 gaming industry donations is Gov. Ed Rendell, a strong casino backer, at more than $1 million. Convicted ex-state Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, is No. 2 at $400,000. Ex-Rep. Mike Veon, D-Beaver, is 13th at $42,600. Attorney General Tom Corbett is eighth at $85,000.

Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, is now trying to reinstate a total ban on gaming industry contributions by introducing Senate Bill 711, which was approved by the Senate's Community, Recreational and Economic Development Committee yesterday.

Ms. Earll said her bill, which makes a total of 37 changes to the 2004 slots law, could be acted on by the full Senate next week, but when it will come before the House isn't known yet. Ms. Earll received $2,000 in gaming industry donations from 2001-08, according to Common Cause.

Mr. Browning of Common Cause noted that until this new ban is approved, there are no limits on campaign contributions from gaming interests to state officials. If the Senate and House don't enact the Earll bill before adjourning for the summer, months will go by with no ban on casino industry donations to politicians, he noted.

Mr. Browning said Pennsylvania is one of the few states that don't put any limits on campaign contributions. Unless the donation ban is reinstated, he said, "The gaming industry now has a blank check when it comes to influencing elected officials."

The changes to the slots law also would:

• Prohibit all future members of the state Gaming Control Board members from holding any outside jobs. Since the first Control Board took office in late 2005, two or three members have held outside jobs. Legislators think Control Board salaries should be sufficient -- six members get $145,000 a year and the board chairman gets $150,000.

• Require future board employees to agree in writing, before they are hired, to wait at least two years after leaving the board before going to work for a law firm or other any consultant or firm that deals with the gaming board. This provision is aimed at stopping board lawyers from quitting their jobs and immediately going to work for law firms for casinos, which several board lawyers have done. This new prohibition could face a challenge in court, since lawyers maintain that only the state Supreme Court can regulate lawyers.

• Prohibit any future casino licenses from going to persons with a felony conviction of any kind, no matter how long in the past. One current casino owner, Louis DeNaples of Mt. Airy Casino in the Poconos, has a felony conviction from 1978, but he wasn't barred from getting a license because the current law says any convictions more than 15 years in the past don't count against a person's record. The Common Cause report showed Mr. DeNaples as the third-higher campaign donor, at $403,000.

• Give Ms. Earll's committee the power to call appointees to the Gaming Board to an informational hearing; this wouldn't be a confirmation hearing, however.

• Exempt Gaming Control Board employees, plus gaming-related employees of the Revenue Department, the state police and the attorney general from being furloughed in the event of a state budget impasse. Such an impasse in July 2008 threatened to furlough some of the gaming employees and shut down the casinos.

Ms. Earll said she does not want Senate Bill 711 to be amended to include legalizing table games in Pennsylvania. If the Democrat-controlled House tries to add table games to the bill, Ms. Earll will urge the Senate not to approve it.

Another bill, House Bill 21, would legalize table games. Table games are such a major addition to casinos that there should be a full public vetting of that issue on its on, not as an amendment to this bill, she said.

Ms. Earll said senators of both parties contributed to her bill. Conservative Republican Sen. Jane Orie of McCandless and liberal Democratic Sen. Jim Ferlo of Highland Park praised the bill yesterday.

Full Senate approval is expected.

"This is a strong vehicle for reform," Ms. Orie said.