Pennsylvania Senate OK's Slots at Racetracks <<<<<<

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Las Vegas...hold on to your hat...as a BIG wind may be around the bend.
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State Senate OKs slot machines
High-stakes Senate gambling debate evokes strong emotions

Thursday, June 26, 2003
HARRISBURG -- It came down to the final stretch, but in the end, state senators voted early this morning to approve a measure that will expand gambling in the state and allow slots at horse racing tracks, including The Meadows in Washington County.

The 27-22 vote came after weeks of fragile negotiations behind closed doors, several last-minute maneuvers to delay action and more than three hours of debate.

“My constituents have voted with their feet,” said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Lawrenceville. “Why in God’s name we would let all of this revenue, all of this money leave our state makes no sense to me.”

Recent studies have shown that Pennsylvanians spend roughly $3 billion a year on gambling out of the state.

The measure, backed by Gov. Ed Rendell, now moves to the House, where debate is slated to take place next week, possibly on Tuesday.

“This is a major step toward legalization of slot machines in Pennsylvania,” said Kate Philips, the governor’s press secretary. “It’s a big day for bipartisanship in Pennsylvania.”

The final legislation was a consensus document crafted by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

House members have said that when legislation comes to their chamber, they will try to amend it in an effort to increase the kinds of gambling allowed and the kinds of locations where gambling can take place.

If the legislation is amended in the House, it would need to go back to the Senate for another vote. But state senators have indicated they have little appetite for legalizing any other kind of gambling than slot machines.

Ultimately the governor may have to craft some sort of compromise with lawmakers in order to get legislation he can sign into law.

State Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, R-Lancaster, a gambling opponent, tried to delay the vote early on, but senators voted 29-20 against his motion, an indication that more than the majority was prepared to vote for the bill.

Debate on the measure began around 8:30 p.m., and for the next three hours opponents argued that using gambling to fund essential services was bad public policy; that gambling leads to addiction; that it would devastate poor people; that it would cost the commonwealth money and line the pockets of track owners.

“Everybody in this room, in their heart of hearts, they know this is bad public policy,” Gibson said in a last-ditch effort to derail the bill.

The slots legislation was initially authored by Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson, R-Bucks, and over the last several weeks was shaped by the Sen. Democratic caucus and one of its top leaders, Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, D-Philadelphia.

Although Republicans control the senate, the GOP majority was not supportive of the legislation, so Tomlinson needed the Democrats to provide the bulk of the votes for its passage.

The final legislation, a 74-page document, is far different from the original version but balances the interests of the track owners, the state, horsemen and the governor’s office.

“The thing that drove our negotiations was two main things: maximize return to the commonwealth and make sure there are strong provisions for enforcement,” Fumo said. “We’ve come to a consensus that I think is going to be good for the commonwealth and good for the economy.”

Under the legislation, track owners would pay $50 million each for slot licenses. Tomlinson initially wanted no fee. Fumo wanted to auction off the licenses.

In addition the race tracks will turn over 36 percent of their slot revenues to the state, of which 2 percent will go back to communities where the tracks are located.

The legislation also:

Allows a minimum of 1,500 slot machines and as many as 5,000 machines at each track.

Sets licensing fees for slot manufacturers and suppliers who do business in the state. Manufacturers will pay $50,000 for a license plus $20,000 annually to renew it. Suppliers would pay $25,000 for a license and also would pay $10,000 annually to renew.

Sets up a racetrack gaming control board.

Establishes a central monitoring system whereby state officials will oversee the slots in real time by remote control and can shut them down if there is problem.

Allows the state to collect the 36 percent tax daily.

Allocates $1.5 million annually for gambling addiction programs.

Allocates $25 million annually for to volunteer fire companies.

Limits the use of credit cards and automatic teller machines at the facilities.
 

It's like sum fucking Beckett play that we're rehe
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Did Pittsbirg get there seperate deal from the one proposed track/slots to help build a new hockey rink?
 

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THE SLIPPERY SLOPE DID CONTINUE AS ALWAYS:
http://www.usaplayers.com/news/2010...asinos-now-entitled-to-table-games-12728.html

Pennsylvania Casinos Now Entitled To Table Games <TABLE cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Casino News - January 7th, 2010 - Written By Glen
http://www.usaplayers.com/links/casinos/winpalace.html
casino-table-games.jpg
Though deliberation over the addition of table games to Pennsylvania Casinos had been in the works for months, legislators have finally agreed on and voted in to law a bill that would enable casinos to have table games. The house finally passed the vote 103-89.

Blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, and more will be added to casinos around Pennsylvania. This is meant to augment the previous slot only regime that the state had seen. The table games are expected to create almost 10,000 jobs, while generating up to $200 million a year. Each casino will be required to pay $7.5 or 16.5 million for licensing, depending on the size of the casino. An additional casino license is also now available.

"Finally I can play poker in the 'Burgh," stated an enthusiastic Pittsburgh resident, Taylor Pettitt.

The bill that would allow table games in the state had passed through many incarnations, and almost became a flop. It was not until Governor Rendell stated that Pennsylvania state workers would be laid off if a solution had not been reached. Additionally, Foxwoods had been delaying the full payment on their license, as table games would have made or broken their gaming center.

Table games are expected to be added to the casinos within the next six months.
 

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