Gambling bill races toward Senate vote

Those hoping to bring casinos to Pennsylvania racetracks face the first of a series of critical tests in the General Assembly this week.

And proponents will press for a vote in the state Senate this week on a plan to permit slot machines at commercial horse-racing tracks.


To land their bill on Gov. Ed Rendell's desk, supporters must survive expected turbulence from gambling opponents and those who want an even broader expansion of gambling. And they must avoid the flak shooting up from the state budget debate.

The immediate effort centers on Sen. Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson's plan to permit 3,000 slot machines at each of the state's four racetracks. The plan would include two tracks licensed but not yet open and two more for which there is hot competition for licenses.

Tomlinson, a Bucks County Republican who worked with Rendell officials into the weekend on language that the governor can support, said Friday he believes a racetrack slots bill will pass this spring.

But "whether I can get it done [tomorrow,] I think, is still up for speculation," he said.

Tomlinson plans to present a final product to Senate Republican and Democrat caucuses today. If he feels the votes are there, he may introduce it on the floor tomorrow as an amendment to another bill.

Tomlinson aims to save the state's struggling horse-racing industry, which has seen track attendance and purses plummet in the past 20 years. Industry leaders say the tailspin has been exacerbated by slots at tracks in West Virginia and Delaware and Atlantic City's casinos.

Rendell, meanwhile, needs the $800 million that a 35 percent state tax on slots proceeds is projected to generate by 2005-06. The money would help the state pick up a greater share of education costs and thereby help reduce local school property taxes.

The governor and lawmakers have scored points with the argument that many Pennsylvanians are gambling elsewhere and that allowing slots here would stem an exodus of billions of dollars.

Opponents, who include most members of the Republican majority leadership, are basing their last-ditch stand on the argument that gambling is a regressive tax that hits the poor hardest. Critics argue that the revenues are not worth exposing more Pennsylvanians to the risk of gambling addiction.

"I don't find anything in it that enhances our state," said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Jubelirer, R-Blair.

Opponents concede theirs is an uphill fight but one that could be helped in the General Assembly by competing efforts to legalize video poker in bars, riverboat casinos or even, in an idea endorsed by House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, casinos in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

In the Senate, for example, where recent head counts have shown a slight majority in favor of slots at tracks, three supporters told The Patriot-News they'd vote against any bill calling for an expansion of gambling beyond slots. Nine others have said they are unsure if they would support such a bill.

Gambling foe Sen. Gibson Armstrong, R-Lancaster, is developing language requiring the state to auction slot licenses to the highest bidder instead of simply granting them to racetrack operators.

Armstrong, citing an analysis by a Washington, D.C., investment banker that said eight licenses could net $2 billion in two years, argues it is wrong to give that kind of asset away.

"We auction off used PennDOT trucks in this state," he said. "Why should we give away something that's worth hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to rich people?"

Sen. James Rhoades, R-Schuylkill, has told Tomlinson he will propose language allowing video poker in bars. Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia, is drafting language to put sharp limits on contributions to candidates for state and local office from anyone affiliated with the gaming businesses.

There are other complicating factors. Supporters have lost Sen. John Pippy's likely 'yes' vote for slots because of the Allegheny County Republican's recall to active military status. Final passage on Senate bills requires 26 votes, according to the state Constitution, even though there may be only 49 votes cast. And new lawsuits challenging a harness track license granted to a Chester-based group have angered potential supporters in Delaware County.

But Tomlinson said his biggest concern is "keeping the bill as clean as I can, without casinos or video poker or riverboats."

"If any of those are added to my bill, I think the bill fails," he said.