FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Bill DeWeese D-Greene/Fayette/Washington www.pahouse.com/deweese

Table games bring jobs, economic relief to Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Jan. 6 – The state House of Representatives today passed legislation allowing poker, black jack, roulette and other table games at the state’s casinos that will bring 10,000 jobs and $200 million in revenue to the Commonwealth.

In addition to permitting the new games, the legislation improves several aspects of the state’s five-year old gaming law (Act 71).

"We legalized casinos in 2004 to help Pennsylvania’s horseracing industry and to provide state reductions in residential property taxes. On both accounts we’ve been successful, as the equine industry is thriving and homeowners have received more than $700 million in property tax cuts in each of the past two years. Even while Governor Edward G. Rendell was delivering his budget address last February, I realized that the hundreds of millions of dollars that eventually would be yielded to the state treasury by table games would be a vital factor in the culminating moments of the budget dialogue," said state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington, prime sponsor of a similar House bill to legalize table games and a longtime advocate of gaming.

"This issue was crystallized because of the hard work of Chairman Dante Santoni and Florindo Fabrizio in the House and Senator Tommy Tomlinson in the Senate who joined me in advocating for the additional jobs and revenue that will be generated at the casinos and surrounding businesses," DeWeese said.

The legislation heads to Rendell who is expected to sign it.

Some of the table games highlights include:

· $16.5 million one-time fee for casinos at racetracks and stand-alone casinos and $7.5 million for resort casinos.

· 16 percent tax on gross table game revenue with 14 percent to be deposited in the state’s General Fund and 2 percent to be distributed to counties and municipalities hosting the gaming facilities. After a facility has offered table games for two years, the tax rate drops to 14 percent, with a similar state and local tax split.

· Allowing racetrack casinos and stand-alone casinos to offer up to 250 table games, while the resort casinos could offer up to 50 table games.

· Directing the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to "open up" the application period for the currently available resort slot machine license to allow additional applicants to compete for this license.

· Adding one more resort casino in 2017, bringing the total to three.

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Some of the Act 71 improvements include:

· Limiting outside compensation for PGCB members to 15 percent of their salary.

· Re-stating the legislature’s intent to ban all campaign contributions from gaming entities.

· Establishing a lifetime ban on anyone convicted of a felony from becoming a casino principal (owner) or key employee (top management).

· Requiring public input hearings for license renewals, table games certificates and structural redesign of a facility in Philadelphia.

· Expanding diversity goals of the PGCB and licensed facilities.

· Extending the prohibition from one year to two years on PGCB employees and those in the Attorney General’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police and Revenue Department who seek employment at a facility.

· Shifting $3 million toward gambling addiction programs.

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