Legislators in Pennsylvania are reportedly hoping that soon-to-appear legislation that would permit licensed liquor establishments, truck stops and off-track betting parlours to operate video gaming terminals has enough support to win over the American state’s casino operators and be ratified.
According to a report from the PennLive online news portal, the proposed bi-partisan legislation could generate as much as $100 million for the state in its first twelve months and up to $500 million annually after five years from the placing of as many as 40,000 of the slot-like video gaming terminals at locations across Pennsylvania.
“[The] Pennsylvania State Police estimates that over 40,000 illegal video gaming terminals are now operating in Pennsylvania and these illegal machines exist in an unlicensed, unregulated [and] untaxed platform,” Pennsylvania State Senator Guy Reschenthaler told PennLive.
The Republican is set to sponsor the as-yet-to-be-introduced legislation in the Pennsylvania State Senate and stated that the move was necessary in order to bring the illegal video gaming terminal market “out of the shadows”.
“Illinois was a great pilot program for Pennsylvania to use when passing this legislation,” Mustio told the news portal before revealing that total gaming tax revenues in “The Land Of Lincoln” had increased by more than $2.1 billion in the three years since that state legalized non-casino video gaming terminals.
“The local tavern owner is looking at this as another way to receive some revenues to help stay afloat and also contribute to the many endeavors we contribute to [including] churches, little leagues, all kinds of youth programs and stuff like that,” Jerry McCardle from the Pennsylvania Tavern Association told PennLive. “My consensus from the tavern owners that I have talked to is that if certain parts of this bill can be worked out, overwhelmingly the tavern owner is in favour of it.”
“Other casinos, the other eleven, are going to have to sit down with their business people and accountants too and run the math,” Eric Schippers, Public Affairs And Government Relations Senior Vice-President for Penn National Gaming Incorporated, told PennLive. “I can tell you [that] from our perspective, this bill in running that math does a good job of striking that balance between helping to mitigate [the cannibalization of casinos] and establishing a new industry in the commonwealth. Other companies will have to come to their own conclusion.”
