Rendell Pushes Lawmakers To Legalize Table Game Gambling

Governor Ed Rendell is holding hostage $700 million in taxpayer dollars that is slated to be given to state universities. The governor on Friday called for lawmakers to return to their jobs at the state Capitol and legalize table game gambling.

The lawmakers have already started working on legislation that would make table game gambling a reality in Pennsylvania casinos. The governor, however, does not want the issue to drag out, and he called for lawmakers to complete the new law as soon as possible.

Legislators, meanwhile, are not in a huge rush to get back to Harrisburg. The current plan in the House is to come back in the next couple of weeks and vote on the table game issue. Senate Republicans are upset that Rendell is holding the money targeted for the universities.

Once Pennsylvania casinos receive the right to offer table games, the state can then thoroughly go after the Atlantic City casino gambling industry. Northeastern states have already started to tap into the Atlantic City customer base.

Earlier this summer, the two Connecticut tribal casinos teamed up for a billboard campaign up the New Jersey Turnpike. The message was simple, go North to do your casino gambling instead of South.

With the casino market be4coming increasingly competitive in the Northeast, Pennsylvania would get a leg up on the competition with the table game legalization. The revenue from table games in Pennsylvania casinos has already been written into the new state budget.

October 30, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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