House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese and Democratic Whip Mike Veon announced plans on Tuesday to introduce legislation expanding gaming opportunities in Pennsylvania.
"The estimated $1 billion in school property tax reductions available through slot machines is just the tip of the iceberg for what we could be providing to taxpayers. The addition of poker tables and roulette wheels will create an even larger revenue source for the highly anticipated property tax cuts, DeWeese said.
"We started with slot machines and now we should complete the job because there is no practical difference between putting $10 in a slot machine and putting $10 on a blackjack or poker table."
The proposal would permit table games such as poker, blackjack and roulette at the state's yet-to-be-licensed 14 slots gaming facilities, which DeWeese said draws a different type of customer than slot machines.
"We want the appropriate committees -- tourism and recreational development, finance -- to take a long, hard look at this plan during the 2005-06 session and we think it will be clear that this is a smart investment in Pennsylvania's future," Veon said. He said those under 40 are the largest segment of poker players.
Delaware approved poker games last year; West Virginia is considering adding them, while 33 states have some form of table gaming, the legislators said.
"The astounding recent popularity of poker by ESPN, celebrity tournaments, and local fund-raisers is making table games a much more popular form of gaming. Pennsylvania also must stay competitive with our neighboring states because if we don't, consumers' gaming dollars will go elsewhere," DeWeese said.
Gov. Ed Rendell signed legislation into law in July, allowing for 14 casinos: seven racetrack casinos, five stand-alone slot parlors and two resort-hotel casinos in the state. Four venues, including two racetrack casinos and two slots parlors, will be in Philadelphia and the surrounding region.
Licenses for the casinos, which will bring 61,000 slot machines, are not expected to be finalized until 2006 with the first casinos expected to open by late that year.
Statewide revenue from the casinos is projected to total as much as $3 billion a year, with $1 billion returned to the state in taxes lowering household property taxes between $200 and $300 a year, Rendell has said.
Source: philadelphia.bizjournals.com