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Adams slots ban killed
By RICHARD FELLINGER
Hanover Evening Sun
September 27, 2006
A legislative proposal to ban a casino near Gettysburg was shot down Tuesday by a Senate committee.
The Senate Rules Committee removed the ban – which had been approved earlier this year by the House – from an omnibus slots bill that seeks many changes to the 2004 slots law.
By killing the ban, lawmakers are leaving the decision on the proposed Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa to the state Gaming Control Board.
The seven-member gaming board, which is expected to award the first slots licenses to racetracks today, hopes to award licenses for stand-alone slots parlors in December.
The Crossroads plan for a stand-alone casino at routes 30 and 15 has sparked heated debate. Opponents say a casino doesn't belong near the Civil War battlefields while supporters say it would be an economic boon.
For Crossroads, the process for winning a slots license from the gaming board is expected to remain competitive. Crossroads still has two competitors in the Poconos and two in the Lehigh Valley for two stand-alone licenses outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Specifically, the Senate removed language from the slots bill that would have banned a stand-alone slots parlor in a sixth-class county with a population between 91,000 and 92,000. Adams is the only county that would have qualified under the language drafted by Rep. Stephen Maitland, R-Gettysburg.
The wide-ranging amendment stripping the ban was sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin. The Rules Committee unanimously approved it.
Piccola said he doesn't want slots near Gettysburg but wants the law to apply fairly to every slots applicant.
"I feel you have to write a law that's even-handed," Piccola said.
Sen. Terry Punt, R-Waynesboro, whose district includes the Crossroads site, does not sit on the Rules Committee and did not return a call seeking comment late Tuesday.
Crossroads spokesman David LaTorre said the ban should have been removed as "a simple matter of fairness."
"This is a project that should be judged up or down based on its merits. We believe Crossroads will win a license," LaTorre said.
Earlier this year, attorneys for Crossroads argued that the ban raises constitutional questions, and lead investor David LeVan raised the prospect of a lawsuit when he led a rally against the ban last spring in the Capitol. Crossroads attorneys have said the ban encroaches on a constitutional prohibition on special legislation, which are laws made for individual places or cases.
Susan Star Paddock, chair of the anti-casino group No Casino Gettysburg, said she's sorry the ban was stripped from the slots bill but believes Crossroads will not get a license from the gaming board.
"But I'm sorry the Senate did not show the courage that the House showed," Star Paddock said.
Other changes to the slots law endorsed by the Rules Committee would make the use of slot-machine suppliers optional and cap the number of machines a casino can buy from one manufacturer. Others would give more power to the attorney general to prosecute gambling crimes and clarify that the state Right-to-Know law applies to the gaming board.
The amended version of the bill now heads to the full Senate, which could vote on it today.
WHO DECIDES
The state Gaming Control Board will rule on all applications for slots parlors, and board members hope to award licenses for stand-alone casinos in December.
Eric
By RICHARD FELLINGER
Hanover Evening Sun
September 27, 2006
A legislative proposal to ban a casino near Gettysburg was shot down Tuesday by a Senate committee.
The Senate Rules Committee removed the ban – which had been approved earlier this year by the House – from an omnibus slots bill that seeks many changes to the 2004 slots law.
By killing the ban, lawmakers are leaving the decision on the proposed Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa to the state Gaming Control Board.
The seven-member gaming board, which is expected to award the first slots licenses to racetracks today, hopes to award licenses for stand-alone slots parlors in December.
The Crossroads plan for a stand-alone casino at routes 30 and 15 has sparked heated debate. Opponents say a casino doesn't belong near the Civil War battlefields while supporters say it would be an economic boon.
For Crossroads, the process for winning a slots license from the gaming board is expected to remain competitive. Crossroads still has two competitors in the Poconos and two in the Lehigh Valley for two stand-alone licenses outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Specifically, the Senate removed language from the slots bill that would have banned a stand-alone slots parlor in a sixth-class county with a population between 91,000 and 92,000. Adams is the only county that would have qualified under the language drafted by Rep. Stephen Maitland, R-Gettysburg.
The wide-ranging amendment stripping the ban was sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin. The Rules Committee unanimously approved it.
Piccola said he doesn't want slots near Gettysburg but wants the law to apply fairly to every slots applicant.
"I feel you have to write a law that's even-handed," Piccola said.
Sen. Terry Punt, R-Waynesboro, whose district includes the Crossroads site, does not sit on the Rules Committee and did not return a call seeking comment late Tuesday.
Crossroads spokesman David LaTorre said the ban should have been removed as "a simple matter of fairness."
"This is a project that should be judged up or down based on its merits. We believe Crossroads will win a license," LaTorre said.
Earlier this year, attorneys for Crossroads argued that the ban raises constitutional questions, and lead investor David LeVan raised the prospect of a lawsuit when he led a rally against the ban last spring in the Capitol. Crossroads attorneys have said the ban encroaches on a constitutional prohibition on special legislation, which are laws made for individual places or cases.
Susan Star Paddock, chair of the anti-casino group No Casino Gettysburg, said she's sorry the ban was stripped from the slots bill but believes Crossroads will not get a license from the gaming board.
"But I'm sorry the Senate did not show the courage that the House showed," Star Paddock said.
Other changes to the slots law endorsed by the Rules Committee would make the use of slot-machine suppliers optional and cap the number of machines a casino can buy from one manufacturer. Others would give more power to the attorney general to prosecute gambling crimes and clarify that the state Right-to-Know law applies to the gaming board.
The amended version of the bill now heads to the full Senate, which could vote on it today.
WHO DECIDES
The state Gaming Control Board will rule on all applications for slots parlors, and board members hope to award licenses for stand-alone casinos in December.
Eric
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