HARRISBURG -- Social and religious conservatives who oppose slot machine gambling lost a big battle in July 2004, as the Legislature approved Act 71, the law authorizing 14 casinos.

But instead of licking their wounds and fading away, they're back with a renewed effort to repeal the slots law.

"People say the slots casinos are a done deal. Well, they said the 2005 legislative pay raise was a done deal too" and that was repealed after a public outcry, Dianne Berlin, a leader of CasinoFreePA, said yesterday.

She and other slots foes will try to collect as many petition signatures as possible to support a new measure, House Bill 2298, which would repeal the 2004 slots law. They've been emboldened by the two-year delay in getting slots parlors established in the state.

"We have to show the legislators who pushed for gambling that we are still out there fighting," said Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, main sponsor of the bill, which has 30 co-sponsors.

"There are many people around the state rallying their forces against slots, people in areas where slots have been proposed, such as Bethlehem, Gettysburg and several sections of Philadelphia," he said. "Casino gambling isn't an industry that will benefit the state. There are more negatives to it than positives."

Slots opponents said the gambling bill was enacted just after midnight on July 4, 2004, with legislators using the same closed-door, no-debate, no-hearing method that was used a year later to enact the pay raises.

The 30 legislators who have signed up to support the repeal bill are far below the 102 votes needed in the House to repeal the slots law.

Still, foes of gambling think they have a chance to rescind Act 71 because no casinos are up and running yet.

"With the unanticipated lengthy delay in establishing slots parlors in the state, citizens still have a window of opportunity to try to stop this before it's too late," said Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute. "We encourage people to contact their legislators in favor of repeal."

But time isn't on the side of slots foes. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board could issue gaming licenses by late September for the first six casinos, all at racetracks.

"We are on track to award the Category 1 licenses [for racetracks] in September and the rest of the license applications [for non-tracks and resort hotels] in December," said board spokesman Nick Hays.

But Ms. Berlin said she isn't discouraged by the odds against her.

"Now is the time to tell our legislators to repeal the slots bill, before any casino licenses are awarded," she said.

In the last two years, she claimed, Pennsylvanians "have seen the ugly underbelly of the casino beast exposed."

Slots backers would dispute her assertion, but she added: "The state Gaming Control Board has shown itself to be unfit for its job. The promises of so-called tax relief get fainter every day."

Board Chairman Tad Decker has strongly defended his agency's work. It now has more than 170 employees, and while five have been arrested on various criminal charges in the past year, Mr. Decker said the agency is doing a good job of implementing an operation as new and complex as overseeing slots parlors.

Gov. Ed Rendell, a strong backer of slots, continues to insist that once all 14 casinos are fully operational, the state will get at least $1 billion a year in new revenue to use to lower each homeowner's annual property taxes by about $200. Some skeptics don't think the state will get that much money from a tax on slots.

Ms. Berlin said her goal is to deliver "thousands" of petition signatures to legislators when they come back in late September. She said anyone who wants to help can go to www.casinofreepa.org.