A month after Senator Jay Costa fired the 2017 opening shot for efforts to introduce online gambling in Pennsylvania, two other Senators have noted their own intentions to follow suit.
In a memorandum posted last week, Representative George Dunbar and Representative Rosita C. Youngblood said that the bill will be introduced “in the near future” but did not specify an official date.
The senators referred to attempts that were made last year to introduce an online gambling bill, but which did not manage to pass the Senate House. Dunbar and Youngblood said that last year’s bill comprised of “legislation that will ensure the integrity and sustainability of our regulated gaming industry and increase needed revenues, while focusing on consumer protections to rein in black market, off-shore gaming operators that prey on problem and compulsive gamblers, and could care less about protecting against underage gambling.”
The main components of the new bill include the regulation and taxation of igaming in Pennsylvania, the imposition of consumer protections and taxation on the daily fantasy sports industry in the state, the suggestion that land casinos pay a $10 million license fee to offer online gambling and a number of other clauses. Gaming tablets will also be allowed in a state airports under the new legislation.
The senators said that they would, very soon, be introducing “omnibus gaming legislation that will protect consumers, maintain and improve the competitiveness of Pennsylvania’s casino industry and generate needed revenues for the Commonwealth.”
They added that while land casinos in Pennsylvania play an integral part if the state’s economy and have, to date, generated $11 billion in tax revenue, the General Assembly cannot afford to “rest on its laurels and hope that these numbers continue into the future.” Younglood and Dunbar insist that the state’s General Assembly has to pass legislation that will allow Pennsylvania’s online gambling to adapt to increasing challenges, including competition from neighboring states.
The theme of online gambling helping Pennsylvania’s budget was continued in an op-ed written by the head of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas, who told readers of the The Philadelphia Enquirer that the online industry could help the state’s $600 million budget shortfall.
“It should also put the final nail in the coffin for the repeatedly debunked argument that somehow online gaming will cannibalize brick-and-mortar casinos. It doesn’t. End of story,” wrote Pappas. “The state can no longer afford to turn its back on this revenue – and its taxpayers. It’s time to get down to business and pass an online gaming bill now.”
