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Gambling next big issue for Legislature
Friday, February 05, 1999 By Peter J. Shelly, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG - First stadiums. Now gambling.
Now that the Legislature has finally approved the stadium financing legislation, lawmakers are poised to tackle the other explosive issue on their agenda early this year - expanded gambling.
On Monday, the state House is expected to vote on a host of proposals calling for statewide ballot questions that, if approved, would lead to riverboat gaming, slot machines at the race tracks and video poker in taverns and bars. The Senate will follow suit - if any measures make it out of the House - probably with a vote Tuesday.
The timing is not coincidental, according to some lawmakers who hinted broadly that they would be more supportive of stadium financing legislation if they knew a long-awaited vote on gambling was in the offing.
"Yes, it arose out of stadium discussions," state Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, said of the scheduled vote on gambling.
He is sponsoring a bill that would call for a referendum allowing riverboat casinos. Evans, who is running for mayor of Philadelphia, wants to earmark the proceeds for public education. His legislation has been paired with a proposal by state Rep. David Levdansky, D-Elizabeth Township, for a referendum that would clear the way for slot machines at the state's four race tracks.
Stephen Drachler, spokesman for House Majority Leader John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, said yesterday that the gambling and stadium issues had nothing to do with one another. And he noted that the gambling interests were making a major push at the end of the last session for a vote on legislation.
But that effort was derailed when House Speaker Matthew J. Ryan, R-Delaware, told the industry's lobbyists and lawmakers that he didn't think it was appropriate to consider such a controversial issue in the lame duck session.
"There was an effort made last session and it should not come as a surprise to anyone that there is an effort this session. The stadium issue was in no way tied to gambling," Drachler said.
Perzel said earlier this week that he wanted to end the gambling debate once and for all. He said the lobbyists had been pushing for a vote since 1995 and that, finally, he would give them a vote.
Ridge also said the two issues were not related, and that he didn't believe riverboats would deliver either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia into the economic promised land.
"I don't think it is the answer for Pittsburgh or Philadelphia's financial challenges. It could be . . . an extension to the hospitality and travel-tourism component of their local economy. But gambling is certainly not the answer to urban communities' woes," Ridge said.
He has said he would support expanded gambling legislation only if it includes a provision calling for a statewide referendum.
By yesterday afternoon, nearly 130 amendments had been filed or were being drafted to the bill that has been targeted as the gambling legislation.
The legislation that will be used as a vehicle for the gambling amendments is a Crimes Code bill designed to crack down on underage drinking and driving.
Some lawmakers want a ballot question on riverboats, slot machines at the tracks and video poker. Others are backing some combination of two of the three.
State Rep. Terry Van Horne, D-Arnold, is pushing an amendment that would clear the way for the state lottery to start a keno game.
And the Legislature's leading opponent of expanded gambling, state Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, has filed his own amendments to the bill in an effort to make life difficult for the gamblers. For openers, Clymer wants the referendum to refer to gaming - not gambling.
He also wants tougher disclosure requirements for spending made on behalf of the referendum during the campaign. Clymer wants the state to require disclosure of expenditures of $250 or more every 48 hours.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to defeat this on the floor. We're going to try and convince the members that this is not good public policy," said Clymer.
"It should be an interesting day," he added.
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