From Capitolwire.com, published January 5
“The state Senate voted 28-22 Tuesday night after a brief debate to approve a House-Senate conference committee compromise table games legalization bill. That action came two days before Gov. Ed Rendell’s deadline to pass the bill.
“Rendell has said he will cut $250 million from the budget in part by laying off nearly 1,000 state employees if the measure if not approved by Friday….
“Whether the compromise bill will pass in the House was questioned by some House Democratic members, even as their leaders asserted it would pass that chamber in what is expected to be a close tally. In the Senate, 10 Republicans voted for the bill, while 20 opposed it. Eighteen of the 20 Senate Democrats voted for it, all but Sens. Mike Stack and Larry Farnese, both D-Philadelphia.
“Under the report approved by the Senate and conference committee, the state’s larger casinos will pay $16.5 million per license, with smaller resort casinos paying $7.5 million. Both will pay an initial 16 percent tax, with 14 percentage points of that revenue for the state and two points going to local organizations or governments. That rate is scheduled to drop to 14 percent – with 12 going to the state and another two to municipal and county government – after June 2011.
“The bill would create a new category-three resort casino license with applications allowed for it starting in 2017, and would allow a 90-day window for new applicants for the remaining existing resorts license.”
