Pennsylvania State Senator Jake Corman indicated he would support the stalled gambling omnibus bill, if the legislature agreed to place a satellite casino in State College. Lawmakers are considering whether to allow 10 satellite casinos in mid-size cities around the state.
Sen. Corman, a Republican from Bellafonte, gave the first public acknowledgement that legislators have considered State College, the home rule municipality where Penn State University is located. Corman said, “It’s been suggested that State College would be a spot that somebody may want to locate one.”
The omnibus gambling bill is one of the suggestions for making up a $2.2 billion deficit in the state budget over the next couple of years. If the full breadth of land-based and online gambling is approved, the gaming revenues could total as much as an estimated $700 million a year. A variety of gaming options are being considered, though lawmakers in the House and Senate are far apart in the types of gambling they support.
Conflicting House and Senate Gambling Bills
The Pennsylvania Senate and House each passed bills in June 2017 which allow online casinos and poker sites. Both passed bills which approve daily fantasy sports regulations for sites like FanDuel and DraftKings. The online gambling provisions are thought to be worth $120 million in the first year after passage and $450 million a year in the fifth year of business. Daily fantasy sports would generate about $5 million a year.
Those are the non-controversial parts of the bill, along with clauses which would allow tablet computer gambling in international airport terminals. By paying as much as $10 million for a gaming license, international airports would offer slots-style gambling in airport-provided tablets. Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Pittsburgh also could pay for a gaming license.
Other provisions have proven to be controversial. Video gambling terminals (VGTs) have fallen out of favor. As many as 40,000 VGTs would have been placed in taverns and restaurants around the state. Land-based casinos and racinos said the VGTs would have cannibalized their slots revenues, so lawmakers appear to have taken the VGT legislation off the table.
Pennsylvania Satellite Casinos
Satellite casinos replaced the VGT legislation, it would seem. Satellite casinos are smaller venues than the large, integrated casino-resorts found near many modern cities. In Pennsylvania’s omnibus gambling bill, such operations would be owned by existing casino and racino operators. Those who want slots-only gambling would have to pay $7.5 million for a casino license, while those willing to pay $10 million could offer up to 500 slot machines and 40 gaming tables.
The idea behind satellite casinos is to place new businesses in job-deficit areas of the state. One stipulation bandied about would place a 25-mile radius around existing casino operations where developers could not build. Even that stipulation received criticism from Penn National Gaming, which said 50% of Penn National Race Course’s gamblers come from more than 25 miles away.
Corman Appears Ready to Support Satellite Casinos
Still, the 10 satellite casinos are ways to buy the loyalty of certain key Pennsylvania state senators and representatives, like Sen. Jake Corman. If a casino was placed in Happy Valley that brought hundreds of jobs to the Centre Region, Jake Corman would have something to show his local constituency. Such is the way deals are made in legislative politics.
Jake Corman sounds like a politician willing to make a deal. Senator Corman said of the plan, “I’ve never been a gaming vote. Having said that, I think a lot of the fears that many of us had when gaming first came into place have not come true. The casinos have operated as good corporate citizens, and as a form of entertainment it has not cause a lot of the social issues that many of us were concerned about.”
Jake Corman: “Trying to Be Objective”
The state senator added, “So, as we look to possibly expand that entertainment to other areas of the state, I’m trying to be objective and see if there’s ways that it can be done a responsible manner that can help some communities.”
Corman warned that many factors would have to fall the right way for his to support the omnibus gambling bill. He said that satellite casinos would have to be approved, while State College would have to be selected as one of the 10 casino sites. In that case, said Sen. Corman, “If done responsibly and done in a way that it can be a form of entertainment for folks…I’m trying to be objective as I look at it.”
Scott Conklin Opposes Satellite Casinos
The office of State Senator Scott Conklin, a Democrat from nearby Rush Township, confirmed that the Centre Region is a part of the talks about satellite casinos.
Tor Michaels, Sen. Conklin’s chief of staff, said of the discussions, “There is talk of a location within the Centre Region, but we have heard nothing official.”
It appears the Scott Conklin does not support satellite casinos, though. Tor Michaels said there were better ways to fund Pennsylvania’s budget deficit. He noted that natural gas companies already are charging taxpayers a severance tax on Marcus shale, but are not paying those taxes to the state. Democrats and Republicans are split on the issue of a Marcus shale tax.
Centre Region Satellite Casino?
Local officials and business leaders say they only heard rumors, but have not been consulted on any plans. Patton Township Manager Doug Erickson said no one has came to him with enquiries about casino development in his town.
An omnibus gambling bill is certain to pass into law, but the forms of gambling remain up in the air. The satellite casino idea might not garner the votes to pass. Republicans want to raise revenues through the expansion of gambling, alcohol, and other “sin taxes”, while avoiding higher tax or levies upon Marcus shale interests. Governor Tom Wolf wants to raise $1 billion of the revenues in new taxes, while having a more conservative plan when it comes to the omnibus gambling bill.
