Earlier this year, with support from the Fund, PennLive published a five-part investigation into Dauphin County, Pennsylvania’s gaming grant program, which is paid for by a tax on gambling revenue. Grants were supposed to fund emergency services and infrastructure upgrades, but the reporting revealed that nearly 100 grants had gone to private businesses – including some connected to county officials. The county just announced sweeping reforms to the program, directly addressing issues raised in PennLive’s reporting. The reforms include barring businesses from receiving grant money, requiring follow-up reporting to ensure the money was spent appropriately, enabling the county to revoke grants or claw back money if necessary, rewriting the grant scoring matrix, and posting all grant applications online for the public to review.
PA county overhauls grant program following grantee investigation
