Pennsylvania Holds Another Online Poker HearingHouse Committee Urges Senate Action This Year |
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On Wednesday, lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s House Gaming Oversight Committee held a hearing to urge the Senate to pass online gaming this year.
The House passed the online casino bill this summer, but the legislation has been languishing in the Senate since then. There’s a small window of opportunity left this year before the proposal would have to be resurrected next year.
Pennsylvania’s budget for 2016-2017 includes $100 million from online gaming, but the games haven’t been approved yet.
There have been more than 50 hearings and meetings to discuss online poker regulation in the Keystone State, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Payne.
“There is no policy or political justification for delaying regulation of Internet gaming in Pennsylvania,” Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas said in testimony at the hearing Wednesday.
“Each and every day that the Commonwealth goes without regulation is another day that consumers are left unprotected and revenue is left on the table. Doing nothing is simply not an option; Pennsylvania consumers and taxpayers have waited long enough."
The PPA added that it’s “puzzled” over why online gaming hasn’t been approved by the Senate, given its inclusion in the budget.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Michigan has a shot at legalizing online gambling this year. Earlier this year, an online poker bill in California hit the muck.
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