The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted the state’s legislators a four-month deadline extension to create a new provision to compensate casino host cities to replace the provision the court declared unconstitutional in September.
Lawmakers now have until May 26 to replace the provision. The high court had set January 23 as the deadline for replacing the provision that required 10 of the state’s 12 casinos to pay 2 percent of revenues or $10 million, whichever was greater, to the local communities where their properties are located. The court held that the provision violated the uniformity clause of the state constitution, since it placed a higher burden in terms of percentage of revenue on the smaller casinos.
While a new host provision was included in a bill passed by the state House last year, the state Senate rejected the measure because it also included several gaming expansion provisions as well. It is also included in gaming expansion legislation now before the state Senate. However, experts have said the new provision—a flat $10 million fee by casinos to local governments—is likely to be declared unconstitutional for the same reason the original provision was.
The Supreme Court was not unanimous in granting the deadline extension. In his dissenting opinion, Justice David Wecht wrote, “Stalled in a political traffic jam of their own making, the legislators ask this court to build them a detour. We should decline to do so.”
