LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - The on-again, off-again battle to legalize slot machines at some Pennsylvania racetracks may or may not be resolved before state lawmakers leave town for their two-month vacation on July 1.
But local gambling opponents, convinced that legislators are preparing to expand legalized gambling before the fiscal year ends on June 30, are traveling to Harrisburg on Monday to rally against the initiative.
A bus is scheduled to leave from the parking lot of Sheetz gas station on Eden Road, in Manheim Township, at 10:15 a.m. The rally is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a conservative public policy group led by Elizabethtown resident Michael Geer.
“The racetrack and casino lobbyists and Gov. (Ed) Rendell are making another push for a vote on another slot machine amendment,” the organization said in a message to activists on Friday. “State Senate and House votes are very possible — as early as next week!”
Rendell has proposed using as much as $1 billion in revenue from taxing slot machine proceeds to provide school property-tax reductions.
Democrat Mike Veon of Beaver County, who is the House Minority Whip, told the Uniontown Herald-Standard newspaper that he is confident that a slot-machine bill will pass before the summer break.
“If we don’t get it done by June 30 it dramatically increases odds that we don’t get it done this year,” Veon told the newspaper. “Then all bets are off. There’s a clear understanding of that among all the main players.”
However, gambling proponents are apparently haggling over the number of racetracks at which to legalize slots, as well as how many stand-alone parlors to allow, how much revenue would go to host municipalities and counties, other sources report.
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But local gambling opponents, convinced that legislators are preparing to expand legalized gambling before the fiscal year ends on June 30, are traveling to Harrisburg on Monday to rally against the initiative.
A bus is scheduled to leave from the parking lot of Sheetz gas station on Eden Road, in Manheim Township, at 10:15 a.m. The rally is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a conservative public policy group led by Elizabethtown resident Michael Geer.
“The racetrack and casino lobbyists and Gov. (Ed) Rendell are making another push for a vote on another slot machine amendment,” the organization said in a message to activists on Friday. “State Senate and House votes are very possible — as early as next week!”
Rendell has proposed using as much as $1 billion in revenue from taxing slot machine proceeds to provide school property-tax reductions.
Democrat Mike Veon of Beaver County, who is the House Minority Whip, told the Uniontown Herald-Standard newspaper that he is confident that a slot-machine bill will pass before the summer break.
“If we don’t get it done by June 30 it dramatically increases odds that we don’t get it done this year,” Veon told the newspaper. “Then all bets are off. There’s a clear understanding of that among all the main players.”
However, gambling proponents are apparently haggling over the number of racetracks at which to legalize slots, as well as how many stand-alone parlors to allow, how much revenue would go to host municipalities and counties, other sources report.
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