House Approves Slots in Pennsylvania

Hoping to stem the flow of gambling dollars to neighboring states, the state's General Assembly approved slot machines in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania House passed the bill by a vote of 113-88, after prolonged debate, and after supporters had defeated numerous attempts to derail it. The Senate on Friday voted 30-20 to approve the bill.

Gov. Ed Rendell made slots and property tax cuts the cornerstone of his agenda Slot profits would provide an estimated $1 billion annually for school property tax cuts, according to proponents. School districts would be required to increase their wage tax by at least 0.1 percent to receive state revenue generated by slots.

Stay tuned for more on this issue. I've been doing a lot of work in Pennsylvania so this will be an interesting one to watch at the local level.

More here.