Anytime PA legislators call another government entity "a sovereign nation" and "answerable to no one," you know it's bad. Our legislators really would know best what that's like...

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board came under fire yesterday from a group of state legislators irate over revelations that it spent thousands of dollars on travel, including a trip to Rome, in the midst of a worsening economy.

"The gaming board is operating like a sovereign nation answering to no one," said Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery). "They are spending money like a bunch of drunken sailors."

Vereb and 13 other representatives and senators held a Capitol news conference to assail the board on several fronts and called for the resignation of its chairwoman, Mary DiGiacomo Colins.

A board spokesman said the travel had been appropriate and stressed that the money had come from casino profits and not taxpayers. He also said Colins had no plans to step down.