HARRISBURG -- With seven of the state's 14 authorized casinos open, slots gambling hasn't hurt state lottery sales, at least not yet, state Revenue Secretary Stephen Stetler said today.

"Overall, lottery ticket sales remain steady at about 1 percent higher compared to last fiscal year,'' he told a legislative finance panel today. That's better than in many states, because lottery sales are down 2 percent nationwide.

For the first eight months of fiscal 2008-09 (through the end of February), lottery sales were $2.044 billion, or $27.3 million more than the first eight months of the previous fiscal year.

From time to time, some critics of expanded gambling claim slots will divert revenue away from the lottery, which pays for services to senior citizens, such as discounts on drugs and transportation.

Mr. Stetler said such damage hasn't happened yet.

"Since the first casino opened in November 2006, lottery sales have remained steady,'' he said, even though "many people have unfairly concluded that slots are affecting lottery sales.''

From 2007 to 2008, he said, lottery sales increased in 37 of the state's 67 counties and declined in the other 30 counties.

Two of the seven counties that now have casinos -- Washington (The Meadows) and Delaware (Harrah's Chester casino) actually had lottery sale increases from 2007 to 2008, he said. The other five casino host counties had lottery sale decreases.

But the biggest drop in lottery sales was in Cameron County, which has no casino within 143 miles. But it does have a jobless rate of almost 15 percent, he said.

"Many factors must be considered when analyzing lottery sales,'' Mr. Stetler said, "and there is still no definitive reason to believe slots are negatively affecting lottery sales overall. But it may be too soon to tell, since only half the casinos are open.''

Two new casinos will open this year -- in Bethlehem in May and Pittsburgh in August -- and two expanded casinos will open -- The Meadows this month and Philadelphia Park in December.

There is no timetable set for two casinos to open in Philadelphia, but it likely will be two or three years. A casino license still must be awarded for a Centaur racetrack/casino in Lawrence County, and resort/hotel slots licenses are still to be awarded for two smaller venues.