Card Player – Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania Senate yesterday passed a resolution that calls for studying the possibility of an online gambling industry in the state.
There was an Internet gambling bill in the legislature earlier this year, but the measure didn’t advance. Many preferred to focus on bar gambling this year.
The resolution stipulates that lawmakers “analyze the potential impact of online gaming on the gaming industry, including the impact online gaming may have on the Commonwealth’s tax revenues and employment at the Commonwealth’s casinos…[and] issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than May 1, 2014.”
The resolution gave some explanation as to why lawmakers might need to make some moves to bolster the gambling industry in Pennsylvania.
“It is important that the Commonwealth preserve and build on these successes and continually work to both maintain and improve the gaming industry in this Commonwealth…Recent months have seen gaming revenues begin to level off and even decline at some gaming facilities. As preparation is underway for new gaming facilities to potentially open in the next few years, the Commonwealth may need to consider changes and revisions to the Gaming Act so that all existing and new…casino licensees may thrive with growing regional competition…The introduction and expansion of gaming in the states that border this Commonwealth have caused the Mid-Atlantic region to become an extremely competitive market.”
Right now, New York, Maryland and Massachusetts are in the midst of gambling expansion plans. New Jersey launched online gambling last month.
