Last night, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a large gaming package including the long-desired online gambling and daily fantasy sports legislation.
Only a couple of weeks after the Senate passed its gaming and online gaming bill, the state House has made a counter-proposal by making a number of changes in the H 271 bill. Only a few hours after the amended bill was given the green light by the House Rules Committee, it also received the approval of the House of Representatives with a vote ratio of 102 to 89. Now the bill is going back back to the Senate.
The bill is to make online gambling legal, as well as gambling at bars and airports. It comes as an attempt of the state government to compensate for the deficit in the state’s treasury. The bill is also the largest gambling expansion faced by the state of Pennsylvania since the state first made casino gambling legal back in 2004. This is a great step forward for the state, especially considering the fact that a similar piece of legislation failed in the House less than a year ago.
Under the provisions of the amended bill, liquor license holders including bars, restaurants, hotels, fraternal clubs and truck stops would be able to operate slot machine-style gambling machines, or the so-called video gaming terminals. The maximum number of the terminals allowed across the state will be 40,000.
Local retail casinos would also be given the chance to apply for an approval to run an online gambling parlour at Pennsylvania’s regional or international airport. Only ticketed passengers would be allowed to use the machines. The license fees vary from $250,000 to $5 million depending on the airport. On the other hand, the airport would get a total of 20% of the gambling revenue generated there, while the state would get 16% of the airport gambling revenue of such operators.
Local casinos with a horse-racing track could be authorised by the local gaming board to run a maximum of 250 slot machines at up to four licensed betting parlours located away from the tracks across the state of Pennsylvania. The amended bill features a license fee estimated to $5 million for each facility, as well as a tax rate of 54%.
There was also an amendment made in terms of the state’s lottery. Under the provisions of the bill, the Pennsylvania Lottery would be able to feature online games, as well as raffle games and instant tickets. The proceeds would be transferred state Lottery Fund. Online casino-style games would not be available for the lottery. Currently, online lottery play has been allowed in a total of four US states, including Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky and Illinois.
As mentioned above, online gambling legislation is also included in the approved bill. Licensed commercial casinos across the state of Pennsylvania would be able to apply for license to operate casino-style online gambling and mobile applications. There is a $8-million fee that must be paid by companies in order to operate a gambling website within the state, while a 16% tax rate would be imposed on operators. Until now, online gambling has been allowed in only three US states, including Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.
Other important aspect of the new Pennsylvania Gambling Bill is daily fantasy sports legislation. DFS would be regulated thanks to the provisions of the amended bill. Applicants for DFS betting licenses would be asked to pay a license fee estimated to $50,000 as well as a 19% tax. What is more, local casino operators would be given the opportunity to apply for a sports betting license. They would be given the chance to run these betting activities at their casinos or online.
- Author
Daniel Williams
