Pennsylvania Gambling Bill to See Vote Soon

Gambling News - January 5th, 2010 - Written By Glen

At the twilight of 2009, Governor Rendell had informed Pennsylvania legislators of layoffs and budget cuts if they had failed to come to an agreement on the Pennsylvania Gambling expansion. Table games are almost guaranteed, but the fine details of the bill have yet to be detailed, written, and agreed upon by all sides of the Pennsylvania legislature.

The bill's earlier incarnations had been disagreed upon for multiple reasons, most notably in the choice to add another possible casino license to the state, which would bring the count from 14 to 15, as well as the percentage of taxes imposed upon the overall revenue of the casinos. Now a new version has been written up, and reports stay that 14% of the table games' revenue will go to the state treasury, while an additional 2% will go to the funding of civil construction projects and other public works.

Table games would constitute a portion of the budget that had been signed into law back in October. Of the 27.8 Billion dollars overall, table games and their respective revenue is anticipated to generate $320 million over two years. Rendell had set the deadline for this bill's passing as the 8th. Should Friday come and no deal be signed into law, he has claimed that he would not only put $250 million dollars into the budgetary reserve, but would also lay off hundreds of state employees.

"The only way to do it will be to take money out of the general government operations, and that will mean a minimum of a thousand layoffs," began Rendell. "We will begin processing those layoffs on the following Monday, that would be January 11th, if, in fact, I don't have a bill to sign by the 8th."

While the bill has mutated several times throughout it's relatively short lifespan, the hour has run critical. Unfortunately, the law that is meant to help may seriously hinder some of the people it is meant to benefit. While most of the gambling revenue will go to institutions such as hospitals and schools, the possibility of lay offs, and their prevention found there in, has tied much more significance to this bill than previously expected.

KYW Newsradio contributed to this Article.