Rendell says he would consider signing table-games legislation

Brad Bumsted

Jun. 19, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday he would consider signing legislation to legalize table games at casinos in an effort to raise revenue, but he's not convinced it would make much of a dent in the state's $3.2 billion deficit.

"If the Legislature sent it to me and it was the will of the Legislature, I'd consider signing it," Rendell said at a news conference.

Revenue from games such as blackjack, roulette and dice might produce $200 million in the first year, Rendell said. The 2004 law authorizing 14 casinos permits only slot machines.

The governor said his position all along has been that Pennsylvania should wait until all casinos are operating before expanding gambling. The Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh's North Shore is slated to open in August. Two casinos in Philadelphia haven't opened. One slots license for a resort hasn't been awarded, nor has a casino license designated for a harness-racing track yet to be built.

Rendell's statement appears to open the door for lawmakers who want to legalize table games. Though a bill by House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, would use the revenue to offset additional property tax cuts, some lawmakers recently talked about using the money to help reduce the deficit.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, who is lieutenant governor, said this week he is "taking a look" at table games and that it was preferable to raising state taxes, as Rendell proposes. The governor has proposed a 16 percent boost in the state income tax from 3.07 to 3.57 percent to close the revenue gap.

Rendell separately is pushing legislation to legalize video poker at bars and clubs and would use taxes from that money for grants to help finance students' costs at state-owned universities.

Rendell said he would sign a stopgap budget to keep government running if there is no budget in place by the June 30 deadline. But House Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, called a stopgap bill "a low probability." Such budgets contain core spending for a short period of time, such as two months.

Pennsylvania hasn't had them since the late Milton Shapp was governor in the 1970s.

Rendell said lawmakers should realize that no one who voted for his 10 percent income tax boost in 2003 lost their seat.

That statement shows Rendell "is a little out of touch," Smith said. A lot has changed since 2003, and people are reeling from the bad economy, he said.

Newstex ID: 35865766