Pennsylvania has a new online gambling bill courtesy of Rep. John Payne (pictured, on the left), who chairs the House of Representatives Gaming Oversight Committee.
The full text of Payne’s HB 649 has yet to be published, but a memorandum posted to the House website said the bill would restrict internet gaming to the state’s current gaming licensees. License fees would go for $5m apiece while online gaming revenue would be taxed at a rate of 14%. The bill’s use of the phrase “internet gaming” rather than “internet poker” suggests the bill would adopt a New Jersey-style menu of gaming options.
In a statement announcing HB 649, Payne said he hoped internet gaming revenue would help at least partially close the state’s projected $2b budget shortfall. Payne referenced a 2014 study that identified online gambling as the largest potential new revenue source for the state’s gaming industry. Payne believes the market could generate $120m in revenue in its first year, about $3m shy of what New Jersey’s market earned in its first year.
Payne told Philly.com that Pennsylvania didn’t want to be “the last ones coming to the game.” Payne said it would be a mistake “to sit here and wait until Ohio has it, Maryland has it, New York has it … We’ve got to be up and running and be able to compete with the surrounding states.”
Payne’s committee has scheduled an April 16 hearing on the issue of online gambling. Previous hearings have featured staunch opposition from Las Vegas Sands, which operates Sands Bethlehem, one of the state’s top brick-and-mortar casino operations. One can only hope that Sands ‘VP of No’ Andy Abboud (pictured right), whose stock tactic is to pull out his cell phone and call it a casino, varies his routine slightly this time around by showing up dressed as an iPhone 6. (Would make a hell of an entrance.)
Even assuming Payne’s bill doesn’t go down to defeat like previous attempts, there’s the question of whether new Gov. Tom Wolf would sign it. Wolf, who was sworn in as governor in January, stated on the campaign trail that he was against any expansion of the state’s casino industry, whether online or off. On the plus side, he’s a Democrat, so he’s not beholden to Sheldon Adelson, who was caught improperly funneling money to Wolf’s opponent Tom Corbett.
News of Payne’s bill was warmly received by Harrah’s Philadelphia GM Ron Baumann, who believes online gambling “could certainly enhance overall revenues.” Bob Green, chairman of the state’s market-leading Parx Casino, was similarly receptive, although he cautioned that “the first priority must be to protect the bricks-and-mortar casino industry.”