- Senate Resolution 273 in Pennsylvania gathered almost unanimous support as Senators across political parties agreed “to study the current condition and future viability of gaming in this Commonwealth.”
- Forty-seven of the 50 state senators voted for the measure with only one dissenting vote.
- Back in June, House Committee on Gaming Oversight Chair, Tina Pickett, said that legislators would wait to see how the new online gaming laws affect land based casinos before considering their own internet gambling bill.
- The bill was introduced as a result of concern that state gaming revenues have declined in the face of competition from neighboring states.
Senate Resolution 273 in Pennsylvania gathered almost unanimous support as Senators across political parties agreed “to study the current condition and future viability of gaming in this Commonwealth.” Forty-seven of the 50 state senators voted for the measure on Wednesday with only one dissenting vote.
The resolution came out of the Senate Committee for Community, Economic and Recreational Development on Tuesday after getting a 14-0 vote in its favor. The study will need to be completed by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee before any recommendations it makes can be turned into concrete legislative proposals.
Back in June, House Committee on Gaming Oversight Chair, Tina Pickett, said that legislators would wait to see how the new online gaming laws affect land based casinos before considering their own internet gambling bill.
But State Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph B. Scarnati III (R-Jefferson), the resolution’s primary sponsor, has expressed concern that state gaming revenues have declined in the face of competition from neighboring states New York, Ohio and Maryland.which have added land-based casino gaming and New Jersey and Delaware which have both recently added online gaming.
Recommendations are due to the General Assembly by May 1, 2014, allowing lawmakers time to include it in the 2014-2015 state budget.
