Pennsylvania has entered the new fiscal year without a state budget and nothing certain on whether a major expansion of gaming will be approved as part of it.
The possibility of Pennsylvania legalizing online gaming to help plug a $1 billion shortfall in the proposed $31.5 billion spending package seemed very real as June drew to a close with passage in the House of Representatives of a bill that would also regulate daily fantasy sports and allow the state’s casinos to open satellite machine gaming facilities statewide.
However, neither the state Senate nor Governor Tom Wolf favors the bill, and experts last week suggested that gaming expansion might have to be shelved for the time being so negotiators can focus on a broader tax package to support the proposed 2016-17 budget.
Negotiators say more than $1 billion is necessary to balance the state’s deficit-riddled finances, but Democrats and House Republicans continue to feud over the source of that money, as well as the amount of money necessary.
Lawmakers last week sent Wolf the main spending bill in the budget package, but the governor said he would not sign it without sustainable revenues to fund it. He has until midnight on July 11 to make a decision before it becomes law without his signature.
The problems with the gambling bill, in the meantime, are myriad. Wolf, for one, has publicly questioned whether the promised revenue is sustainable and capable of keeping the budget balanced over the long term. Supporters say expansion will generate more than $200 million in the first year, but a sizable chunk of that would come from one-time fees.
There is also opposition to online gambling, mainly from Sands Bethlehem, one of the state’s largest and most successful casinos whose ownership, Las Vegas Sands, is the sector’s most vocal enemy from within the industry. Sands also opposes the expanded machine gaming portion of the bill.
