10-16-09
Our state legislature is on its way to expanding gambling again by legalizing Table Games at Pennsylvania’s slot-machine casinos. All that remains is for the Senate and House to reconcile two different bills with different tax rates and license fees and decide how to divide up “the spoils.”
Here is how state senators voted on their version of a bill to legalize casino table games - SB 1033 – that was passed by a vote of 29-20 on the Senate floor on October 9, 2009. Pennsylvania Family Council opposed the bill.
Note: Our purpose is to encourage Pennsylvania citizens to examine voting patterns carefully, educate friends and family, and thank those public officials who serve honorably.
1. Check the roll call to find how your State Senator voted on the bill to expand gambling.
2. Then contact your State Senator and let him or her know what you think.
IF your State Senator voted YES to support gambling, express your disappointment and your family’s desire for no more gambling expansion.
IF your State Senator voted NO, say “thank you!” and ask him or her to help stop any future gambling expansion.
For help in finding who represents you in Harrisburg and how to contact them, use our Citizen Action Center.
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Roll Call vote on Senate version of Casino Table Games bill
Source: www.PennsylvaniaVotes.org (excellent resource from our friends at The Commonwealth Foundation)
2009 Senate Bill 1033 (Legalization of table games)
Passed in the Senate (29 to 20) on October 9, 2009, to legalize poker, blackjack, roulette and other table games at Pennsylvania’s slot machine casinos. The bill allows slots casinos to operate up to 250 table games at horse-tracks and free-standing casinos, and up to 25 table games at resort casinos. Table games at freestanding casinos and the racetracks would be taxed at a rate of 14 percent, with 12 percent going to the state and 2 percent to local communities. The local share would be 1 percent each for the host community and county. Casino operators would be required to pay an up-front licensing fee of $15 million. Resort casino operators would be required to pay a $7.5 million licensing fee, and the table games would be taxed at a rate of 12 percent – with 10 percent to the state and 2 percent split locally. The state’s share of the money would go into the general fund. [Vote Details and Comments]
