Centre Daily Times – A bill that could allow several thousand bars in Pennsylvania to profit from gambling contests called small games of chance won approval from the state Senate Wednesday but fell off the fast track amid last-minute objections from Gov. Tom Corbett and House Democrats.

Its passage would represent the state’s largest expansion of legal gambling in nearly four years.

The bill passed the Senate 39-11 without debate and senators had initially expected a speedy vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a signature by Corbett.

But that changed several hours after the Senate vote.

House Democrats worried about objections by VFW post operators and other fraternal organizations to the added competition for the gambling dollars. Democrats also were suspicious about the bill’s speedy track after being negotiated among Republicans behind closed doors, a spokesman said.

“Members on our side have learned from experience that that means something is up,” House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said.

Meanwhile, Corbett’s office told lawmakers that he wanted to ensure that the considerable tax revenue — anticipated at about $150 million a year on gross profits of $260 million a year — from the newly legal gambling would be directed to programs for the elderly that are traditionally underwritten by the Pennsylvania Lottery.

“While the governor supports the concept of expanding small games of chance to taverns, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the governor believes the revenue should be deposited into the Lottery fund to hedge against potential impacts to the Pennsylvania Lottery,” Rene Diehl of the governor’s office wrote in an email late Wednesday afternoon to lawmakers.