Pennsylvania online gambling bill gets Senate okay, House delay

Pennsylvania legislators came within a whisker of approving online gambling in their state, but last minute revisions to the bill left House representatives and industry stakeholders howling in protest.

Late Wednesday, it appeared that Pennsylvania’s two legislative chambers had finally reached agreement on a budget revenue plan, months after they approved the spending portion of the budget.

The House approved the original HB-271 legislation back in June, and the Senate approved a revised version of the bill on Wednesday afternoon. But multiple House reps complained that they’d had no time to read let alone digest the 279-page amendment the Senate tacked onto HB-271. (The full text can be read here, with the current version starting around page 470.)

A motion to defer a vote on the bill until Thursday morning was rejected by the slimmest of margins, falling just one vote short of passing. But the naysayers weren’t giving up, and they kept presenting further delay motions until time expired on the day’s session.