The chances that Pennsylvania will legalize online gambling as part of a larger gaming expansion in the state continue to improve with each passing day.
The latest for PA online casinos
The latest good news for online gambling comes from the state Senate.
Senate Republicans — the majority party in the state’s upper chamber — have a plan to introduce their own gaming expansion that appears likely to include to iGaming.
The new bill will reportedly come from Sen. Kim Ward, who has previously overseen the Senate’s committee for gaming issues.
That comes on the heels of the Senate Democrats making known their desire to introduce such a bill, which would generate more than $100 million in revenue for the state through online gambling.
Just the latest momentum in PA
Earlier, state Sen. Mario Scavello said he was optimistic that the legislature would act on online gambling this spring. (That includes daily fantasy sports, it appears.) Scavello is notable because he now chairs the Senate committee that deals with gaming issues.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa had this to say to Trib Live:
“I think it’s a natural progression of gaming in Pennsylvania, the next logical step,” he said. “To some degree, both (iGaming and DFS) are already present, particularly fantasy sports. What we’re doing is regulating it.
The Senate began the year showing how serious it was about addressing a host of gaming issues in the state, online gambling included.
When will the bills drop for iGaming?
That’s still up in the air, but it appears that the bills from Ward and Costa will come later this winter or early in the spring.
The state continues to be wildly behind on revenue for the current fiscal year and faces a deficit of $2 billion for the next fiscal year.
So online gambling, beyond being a matter of policy in the state, is becoming a matter of fiscal necessity as well. The possibility of tens of million dollars in economic impact for the state from PA online casinos is not likely to be ignored by lawmakers.