Pennsylvania approves slot machines at tracks, casinos
Pennsylvania approves slot machines at tracks, casinos
July 7, 2004
A UMNS file photo
No Long Caption Available for this Story
By Jackie Campbell*
PITTSBURGH
(UMNS)—In about a year, Pennsylvania will have more slot machines than
any other state except Nevada, according to a new law allowing up to
61,000 machines at 14 sites in the commonwealth.
Gov.
Ed Rendell, who has pushed for gambling expansion as a way to provide
property tax relief and increase state funds for education, signed the
bill July 5 at Philadelphia Park, the home race track of Kentucky Derby
winner Smarty Jones.
The
law guarantees seven race-track casinos, with four at existing tracks,
two at future tracks in Erie and the Philadelphia area and one at an
unnamed harness track. Two stand-alone casinos will be in Philadelphia,
one in Pittsburgh and two at undetermined locations. Casinos also will
be allowed at two hotels, which must have at least 275 rooms.
Each
race track and stand-alone casino can have up to 5,000 slot machines.
The hotel casinos are allowed no more than 500 machines.
The
law was passed despite efforts of United Methodists and other
Protestant groups to convince the legislature that gambling expansion is
detrimental to society and a bad way to finance government. The
lobbying efforts have been intense since both the House of
Representatives and the Senate passed bills last summer allowing slots
at race tracks but were unable to reach agreement on other aspects of
the legislation.
The
United Methodist Church officially opposes gambling in all forms. The
denomination’s Social Principles call gambling “a menace to society,
deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic and spiritual
life, and destructive of good government.” The church urges Christians
to abstain from gambling and to “minister to those victimized by the
practice.”
Late
this June, Pennsylvania leaders agreed to a compromise as work was
concluding on a state budget. The budget passed without debate after the
gambling legislation was approved.
The
Senate passed the compromise legislation by a 30-20 vote at 2:30 a.m.,
July 2, after six hours of debate, over protests from some Republicans
who predicted an increase in organized crime influence and gambling
addiction. All Senate Democrats and nine Republicans voted for the
compromise proposal.
House
Republicans wouldn’t allow a vote on the slots measure until the Senate
also sent a bill guaranteeing where the state’s share of the proceeds
would go. When the bill with the formula arrived, the House debated nine
hours before passing both measures at about 3 a.m. on July 4.
“Tonight
the people of Pennsylvania are true winners,” Rendell said after
passage of the law. “Starting now, we begin the long overdue process of
recapturing billions of dollars in lost revenue, creating thousands of
jobs, dramatically contributing to the future of the horse racing
industry and finally returning millions of dollars in the form of lower
property and wage taxes for the citizens of Pennsylvania.”
He said the law enables $1 billion in property and wage tax relief, claiming an average reduction of $333 per homeowner.
Casino
owners will get 48 percent of the revenue from the slots. Thirty-four
percent goes to the state for property-tax reductions, about 9 percent
goes to the state’s equine industry, 5 percent will go to public
projects and 4 percent will be split between counties and local
governments that host slots parlors.
*Campbell is a staff writer for the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference.
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