Three state senators from Southwestern Pennsylvania are co-sponsors of a bill that proposes to expand gambling in Pennsylvania with Internet gaming and fantasy sports. The legislation, introduced March 6, also seeks to reinstate local share accounts for communities.

Senate Bill 477 was introduced by prime sponsor Tom Killion, R-Delaware County.

It is co-sponsored by state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Caroll Township, whose district includes The Meadows Casino; Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Jefferson Hills, whose district includes Pittsburgh's Rivers Casino; and State Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Fayette County, whose district includes Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin in Farmington.

The bill is currently with the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee.

In addition to adding internet gaming and daily fantasy sports play, the bill authorizes tablet gaming – server-based, internet gaming on multiuse devices at publicly owned commercial service international airports in Pennsylvania.

The bill also would reinstate payment by the casinos into local share accounts for host communities, offering a more equitable fee structure for casinos based on the class of license under which they operate.

In October, the state Supreme court handed down a ruling that requires legislators to find a more equitable way of funding local share accounts. Casinos pay millions of dollars to the communities that host casinos, but the court agreed with a complaint filed by Mt. Airy Casino that the current funding scheme for LSAs is unconstitutional.

Legislators are currently working under an extension granted by the court that requires them to find a solution by May.

"This is a critical piece of legislation for the commonwealth that restores the local share assessment on casinos and legalizes and regulates iGaming," Reschenthaler said in a statement.

"Restoring the local share assessment that casinos pay to our municipalities and counties helps to keep important services like fire and police operating without disruption."

"We have to do something soon," Bartolotta added on Thursday. She noted that The Meadows Casino has escrowed $10 million for Washington County's LSA as it waits for the Legislature to work out a replacement plan.

According to information provided by Reschenthaler's office, the LSA fix consists of levying an annual renewal fee of 20 percent of Class 1 and Class 2 casinos' initial slot license fee of $50 million, or $10 million per year. The 20 percent fee would be applied to all 12 casinos' renewal fees, which would be less for smaller casinos operating with lower class licenses.

The legislation also retains all original LSA distribution requirements. For instance, each municipality in Washington County would continue to receive $25,000 plus $10 per capita.

The Senate bill is similar to House Bill 392, introduced in February, that is now in the Gaming Oversight Committee.

Introducing interactive gaming at licensed casinos – where licensed slot machine operators would provide players with the ability to compete against others on the Internet – would also produce additional revenue, the senators said.

According to the bill, licenses for interactive gaming would cost require an initial $8 million licensing fee; as well as a $2 million licensing fee for each iGaming operator. Annual renewal fees would cost $250,000 for gaming licenses and $100,000 for gaming operators.

The operators would be required to pay a 14 percent tax on the daily gross interactive gaming revenue as well as a local share assessment.

Aaron Bonnaure, Reschenthaler's chief of staff, said in an email reply to the Observer-Reporter on Thursday that while the bill adds revenue from new sources like Internet gaming, it's "too early to make any revenue projections at this moment. It is the responsibility of the appropriations committee to make those estimations."

He explained that Internet gaming would be permitted to occur virtually anywhere in the geographic boundary of Pennsylvania, while iGaming operators would be licensed through a bricks-and-mortar casino.

But Reschenthaler said the new forms of gaming could be worth an additional $100 million.

"Legalizing and regulating the iGaming industry will bring this industry out of the dark, provide an opportunity for brick-and-mortar casinos to attract new demographics, and provide important protections for players," Reschenthaler said. "Additionally, given the disastrous state of our commonwealth's finances, the $100 million in new revenue generated by iGaming will be very welcome."

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