DeWeese plans bill on gaming
House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Waynesburg) said Wednesday he will introduce legislation to allow expanded 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 local taxpayers. Poker tables, black jack tables and roulette wheels will create an even larger revenue source for property tax cuts. We started with slot machines and now we should complete the job because there is no practical difference between putting $25 in a slot machine and putting $25 on a black jack or poker table,” DeWeese said.
DeWeese’s proposal would permit table games such as poker, blackjack and roulette at the state’s 14 slots facilities authorized by Act 71 of 2004. The legislation is being circulated for co-sponsors and should be introduced in the next two weeks.
“Expanding gaming means more revenue to lower property taxes, more well-paying jobs at casinos and surrounding businesses, and more tourism and related economic development dollars. By introducing this legislation, I am looking to start the debate,” said DeWeese. “I suggest the appropriate committees – Gaming Oversight, Tourism and Recreational Development, Finance – take a long, hard look at this plan during the 2007-08 session and I think it will be clear that this is a smart investment in Pennsylvania’s future.”
DeWeese said consumer spending at casinos across the country has steadily increased every year during the last decade. Since 1993, spending has gone from $11.2 billion to $32.42 billion in 2006, he added, noting gross gaming revenue increased in every state in 2006. In fact, Americans spent more in commercial casinos in 2006 than they did on going to the movies and buying books combined. In Nevada and New Jersey – the two largest commercial gaming states – poker players spent $238 million in 2006, added DeWeese.
The bill’s lead co-sponsor and member of the Gaming Oversight Committee Rep. Jim Wansacz said black jack and other table games attract a different type of customer than slots machines. He said black jack is the second most popular casino game after slots, followed by poker.
“The astounding 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, the gaming dollars will go elsewhere,” said Wansacz, D-Lackawanna.