From Gambling Magazine:

Gaming Regulator's Defection Could Spur Change
June 22, 2003

When Philip C. Parenti revealed last week he was stepping down as the state's top gambling regulator to become a casino executive, he drew the wrath of watchdog groups and even the governor. By abruptly switching sides, Parenti violated the spirit of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's plan to restrict state workers from moving to companies they regulated or dealt with closely, a governor's spokesman argued.

But despite the ruffled feathers, Parenti's defection may actually help Blagojevich's efforts to toughen state ethics laws, a political watchdog says. "I'm sure the governor didn't want this, but it really makes the case that you have to do something," said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

Parenti was a holdover from former Republican Gov. George Ryan's administration. He was making $160,000 a year as administrator of the Illinois Gaming Board, and said he was on good terms with the new governor, a Democrat. He is now on paid leave until late summer, when he said he'll receive a "substantial" raise to be a vice president for Harrah's Entertainment in Las Vegas.

Although his case frames the issues for critics, Parenti was just the latest government worker to cash in his insider experience by taking a better-paying job in the private sector. Gaming board meetings alone are littered with former regulators now working for casino companies. And the halls of the state Capitol are lined with lobbyists once on the state payroll.

Two recent additions to the lobbyist ledger come from both sides of the aisle. Ryan's former transportation secretary, Kirk Brown, is now registered as a lobbyist for Hanson Professional Services, a Springfield engineering firm with close ties to Republican heavyweights, records show.

And Blagojevich's former deputy governor, Doug Scofield, recently stepped down and registered as a lobbyist for his own company, which represents trade associations, a hospital, a union and the Illinois Math and Sciences Academy in Aurora, records show.

Changes in state law to tighten up when and where state workers are allowed to go after fleeing the coop have been debated, and one is now on the governor's desk. He thinks it's too weak.

The General Assembly passed the bill this spring. It would force a state employee to wait a year before joining a company that had received a state contract of $25,000 or more. The fine print disliked by Blagojevich, however, reads the "revolving door" clause only applies if the worker was the lead negotiator of that contract.

Blagojevich says he'll use his amendatory veto powers in the veto session to beef up that clause. He wants to impose the one-year ban on state employees who participate "personally or substantially" in any government dealings with the company luring him away, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said.

"The intention of the language of the amendatory veto would be to prevent people who had been deeply involved in regulating an entity from accepting employment with them within a year of leaving state service," she said.

It's the spirit of that proposed rule that Blagojevich thinks Parenti has trampled on. Parenti denied any conflict of interest and has pledged to follow the gaming board's internal code of conduct, which says he can't be involved with Harrah's Illinois operations for one year.

Harrah's owns Illinois casinos in Joliet and Metropolis and has expressed interest in the dormant Emerald Casino license - which Parenti has worked hard to wrest away. Critics, such as anti-gambling activist the Rev. Tom Grey, scoff at the notion that Harrah's won't tap Parenti's inside knowledge of Illinois gaming, including the Emerald license.

"Why did they hire him, because all the sudden they found he was the best guy to be the vice president? C'mon," he said. Even if he does recuse himself from Illinois matters as promised, the appearance of a conflict still exists, Canary said.

"He says he followed every rule, and I'm sure he probably has," she said. "But I think the biggest problem is the perception that this is not on the up and up, that no one is minding the public's business. Whenever these things take place, Parenti or anybody else, it looks very bad."

Not all Illinois government watchdogs think Parenti's move is bad for taxpayers. Terry Norton, executive director of the Better Government Association, said gaining experience from a public job and then applying it in the private sector is "the good old American dream" as long as the person keeps former colleagues at arm's length for a set time.

"I don't see where the problem lies in that situation because nobody is taking advantage of being with the government and no company is getting a better deal than they would have gotten before they employed this person," he said. Those who have jumped to the private sector argue it would be illogical for a company to hire someone who lacks the experience and knowledge of how state politics works.

If Blagojevich succeeds with his plan, Illinois would become the 24th state with some sort of revolving door clause. Of those states, 17 ban employees from moving to companies they worked with for one year, and six impose two-year bans, according to the Washington D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group.

Included in the states with no restrictions are Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. The federal government has its own revolving door rules that restrict former lawmakers and legislative aides from becoming lobbyists who then lobby their former colleagues.

Former staffers who are to be paid more than $18,750 in any two-month period to lobby are barred for one year from discussing business with their former employer, including legislative committees. Lawmakers are banned from any type of lobbying for one year after leaving office.

For White House employees, Bill Clinton signed an executive order in 1993 barring any senior appointee from lobbying his or her former agency for five years after leaving the post. Senior White House staff appointees are barred for five years from lobbying any agency for which they had "personal and substantial" responsibility, according to Clinton's order.