Pennsylvania Online Gambling Bill Proposed
Across the world today there are few sectors of the entertainment industry experiencing as much growth as that of online gambling. Everywhere, from Europe to South Africa, countries are seeing the gains that can be garnered from online gambling and as such responding with an increasingly lax approach to legislation, the United States being one of these.
This changing of moods in the States took another step earlier in June as lawmakers in Pennsylvania submitted a bill to the state legislature, the fifth bill of the sort submitted to the state this year. Sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, Sen. Robert Tomlinson, Sen. Kim Ward and Sen. Elder Vogel, Bill no. 900 is aimed at relaxing some of the state’s rules surrounding both regular and online gambling, opening Pennsylvania up to the sorts of tax revenues currently enjoyed by Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, all of which have legalised online gaming in the past few years.
The bill’s primary aim is to allow for businesses that already hold gaming permits to be issued with online operators’ licences, and that players of the games provided by said companies would only be allowed to play whilst in the state itself. Also, in a manner akin to other states and countries that have legalised the online gaming scene, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs would be required to work together in the expanding of programs aimed at reducing the impact gambling has on the state, seeking out and assisting compulsive and problem gamblers with their recovery.
If the bill were to go ahead, the state would likely enjoy rather high revenues, a must given Pennsylvania’s growing budget deficit, a shortfall that has grown to the size of around $2 billion in total. If the bill were to be given the go-ahead, companies such as Royal Vegas Casino could begin offering slots and table games to the Pennsylvanian public, potentially bringing in some rather hefty tax revenues for the struggling state.
There are some flaws in the new bill, however, which could put the brakes on the not-yet-nascent online gaming industry in the state. First the bill calls for a rather lofty 54% tax on online gaming, compared to New Jersey’s 15% rate, or the rate of 14% offered in Pennsylvania’s Bill 649, proposed earlier this year. Online gaming profit margins are rather slim compared to that of bricks-and-mortar establishments, and as such a rate so high could stifle the industry before it has even hatched. Second, the licensing fee proposed – $10 million – is double the fee proposed by HB 649, which, coupled with the 54% rate, would surely create hurdles for market entry.
Whether or not the new bill will go through is yet to be seen, but with the sheer number of proposals on the table, it’s plain to see that online gambling is pretty likely to be seen in Pennsylvania in the not-too-distant future.
