The poker community was anticipating a vote on the legalization of online gambling in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week, but it never came and looks like it will be delayed for several more days at the very least. House Bill 649, introduced by Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. John Payne (R – Dauphin) early this year, passed through his committee by an 18 to 8 vote in November.
With the fairly easy passage of the bill in committee, it looked like there was an excellent change it would succeed when put to a vote in front of the entire House. The vote was slated for last Wednesday, but was pushed to Thursday after some debate and discussion of amendments. But with state lawmakers unable to come to agreements on the months-late state budget, the HB 649 vote was put on the backburner.
The budget talks are a total mess, with Senate Republicans unable to find any compromise with their House counterparts. The Senate GOP approved a $30.8 billion spending package last Monday which is supported by Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, but the House Republicans have their own $30.3 billion spending bill and will not sign off on the Senate’s.
One of most significant parts of the Senate’s package is a $350 increase in spending for public schools. This would be partially offset by a controversial piece that would reduce 2016 state and school obligated pension payments by $170 million, only to end up repaying them in long-term at a higher cost.
In a press release, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale criticized the plan, saying, “We are deeply disappointed that the State Senate passed a bill that, over time, will leave future public sector workers and school employees in poverty. This is a bad deal for Pennsylvania which will end up costing taxpayers more for an inferior pension that jeopardizes the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of workers.”
Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder said it just “kicks the can down the road.”
While most of the revenue portions of the budget have yet to be revealed by the either Senate or House, the Senate plans to offset some of the extra spending with $1.2 billion in tax increases.
Part of House Republicans’ strategy to bring in revenue is online gambling. Rep. Payne estimated that a legal, regulated online gambling regime would provide $120 million annually for the state. On top of that, there would be a flat licensing fee of $5 million for each operator, so the state could immediately see at least a small cash infusion, relative to the total budget.
House leaders met for a while Sunday night and are getting back to work on the budget today.
“We know we’ve got to get a budget passed,” House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny), told PennLive.com after a meeting last night. “And we’re looking forward to getting it done this week.”
