Pennsylvania video poker bill gets public hearing

A bill in Pennsylvania that would legalize video poker in private social clubs and restaurants will be taken up at a public hearing in Harrisburg today. Passing of the bill would mean tax proceeds would go to provide tuition relief in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Dante Santoni is the sponsor of the bill which was pitched by Gov. Ed Rendell in the budget address in February. The proposal for this bill would help to offset the cost of tuition at state-owned and community colleges for families that earn less than $100,000 a year.

Santoni’s measure (House bill 1317) would permit video lottery terminals, including video poker, video keno and other games of chance, at the state’s 11,000 bars and restaurants and 3,000 private social clubs licensed by the liquor control board. The state’s resulting revenue would then be used to help students at state-system and community colleges pay tuition. An estimated 17,000 video poker machines are already operating illegally across the state, in what Rendell described in his budget address as a thriving and “completely unregulated and untaxed” industry.
Under Santoni’s measure, students would pay at least $1,000 per year toward the cost of their tuition. Students and families who were not eligible for grants through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency that earned less than $100,000 a year would receive a grant equal to half the cost of tuition. The discount would amount to $2,700 for students at State System of Higher Education universities and an average of $500 for those who pay local tuition at community colleges and $1,000 for those who pay out-of-area tuition at community colleges, Santoni said.
"Pennsylvania is facing a massive budget deficit, and there will be little room to help working families afford increasingly out-of-reach tuition costs at our public colleges," Santoni said.

News Added: 23 April, 2009

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