A key Pennsylvania lawmaker is optimistic on online gambling coming to the Keystone State in the next few months. Pennsylvania state Sen. Mario Scavello — the newly appointed chairman of the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee — made some news on Friday when he told Mark Gueretze of CDC Gaming Reports: “It looks like online gaming has the support to pass.” Scavello, went on to tell CDC a meeting is scheduled for January 17 in which legislators will hammer out the specifics of a bill. Then: “Sometime in March, we’ll have something done and passed in the House and…

Representatives of the state’s casinos will meet on January 3 to discuss the gambling law. Senator Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, announced that she set up a meeting with representatives of the state’s 12 casinos on the same day that lawmakers are supposed to discuss the new legislative session. The closed-door meeting will take place in the Capitol on January 3. According to the American Gaming Association, Pennsylvania’s casino industry is the number one in tax revenue, and a recent measure that says that the casino host fee is unconstitutional is jeopardising the relationship between the state casinos and the communities. The…

A bill to regulate online gambling and daily fantasy sports (DFS) in the US state of Pennsylvania is not likely to pass before the end of 2016, according to an official close to legal talks. Pennsylvania newspaper Tribune-Review quoted Casey Long, director of policy and legislative affairs in the office of Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, as saying that the Senate has no plans to act on the bill, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 114-85. The state has until November 30 to pass bill HB2150 if it is to come…

Next week, Pennsylvania lawmakers in the House Gaming Oversight Committee will take another look at regulated online gaming for the Keystone State. The hearing would add to the growing list of meetings on the proposal. The bill has been discussed more than 50 separate times since the start of 2015, according to Pennsylvania Rep. John Payne, sponsor of the legislation. Pennsylvania’s House approved internet betting by a 114-85 vote in late June. The measure has sat in the Senate since then with no action. Governor Tom Wolf would have the measure on his desk if Senate lawmakers sign off on…

Legislation that would allow online gambling in Pennsylvania will not be passed until at least the autumn after it was left out of the state’s spending bill. The $31 billion ($28 billion) budget was signed by Governor Tom Wolf on Monday, however a fiscal plan to pay for its provisions has not yet been agreed. The Pennsylvania House passed the online gambling proposal late last month, which would introduce a 16% tax on revenue, but it has stalled so far in the Senate amid the budget negotiations. According to a report by the Associated Press news agency, lawmakers are looking…

The fate of a bill that would authorize online gambling in Pennsylvania seemingly changes by the day in recent weeks. Last week, the possibility of Pennsylvania online poker and casino games took an unprecedented step when an omnibus gaming bill passed the House of Representatives. Gambling is a major part of the revenue package being put forward by House Republicans to fund their spending plan for the state budget. But in the days since, it’s become apparent that it’s going to be anything but smooth sailing for the gambling expansion legislation. Things were looking promising for the bill that would…