There has been a heated congressional battle going on in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Even though it has not been highly publicized or made CNN or the evening news, it has all the makings of good old bickering and politicking. At the heart of the matter is a gambling license, a state revenue fall out, and the jobs of a thousand state employees. On the surface it looks as simple as ‘pass this bill or people loose jobs.’ However, in reality, state politicians are looking out for their districts even though it may be at the expense of their state.

Last October, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed a bill that would expand slot machine casinos to host table games such as, poker, blackjack, and others. Casinos classified as “resort” casinos would gain the right to house an extra 100 slot machines. All of this was done in the hopes that these expansions would help generate much needed revenue for the cash strapped state to the tune of $250 million. Unfortunately the bill became bogged down in debate. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, finally had to lay down an ultimatum that if the bill was not passed by January 8 he would be forced to lay off 1,000 state employees. He was serious and stated, “I wouldn’t be asking our (cabinet) secretaries to go through the exercise of preparing for layoffs if I had confidence that we’re going to get this done.”

The debate began when the last available “resort” casino license came up for grabs, and, quite predictably, more than one party wanted it. That’s when the party lines were drawn. From the left, Democratic leaders wanted to create a third license. The Republican and majority party thought the remaining license should be contested over and create competition true to the capitalist idea. Both sides thought their idea was fair. Both sides thought the other was using this bill to bolster local support. Governor Rendell is tired of waiting and doesn’t believe, “…we are ever going to have a table games bill,” if he does not step in and put his foot down.

Tags: casino, gambling, online