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Gambling PhD - Online Casino News - July 2004
Pennsylvania OKs Slot
Gambling
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who made
slots-for-tax-relief the centerpiece of his 2002
election campaign signed into budget a new measure to
legalize slot gambling in the state of Pennsylvania.
Over the weekend, the
Legislature passed a pair of bills that will legalize
slot-machine gambling to help finance $1 billion a year
in property-tax reductions for homeowners across the
state. Rendell
plans to officially sign the gambling and property tax
reduction bills on Monday.
The measure proposes slots
at seven racetracks, two resorts, and five independent
sites. It will authorize up to 61,000 slot machines.
Revenue from the machines,
estimated at $1 billion a year, will be used to reduce
local property taxes by an average of 20 percent.
The bill will make
Pennsylvania the 18th state to legalize slot-machine
gambling, this does not count casinos run by Indian
Tribes, according to the American Gaming Association.
It is said that the bill
will allow the state to recapture most of the money it
is losing from Pennsylvanians gambling in neighboring
states and it will help the state's horse racing
industry.
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