In the Bizarro World of Harrisburg policymaking, the more citizens lose while gambling at Pennsylvania casinos, the more tax revenue flows into
state coffers.
Yet, the more the state takes in from gambling — including a record haul of more than $3.2 billion last year — the less
it does to cure Harrisburg’s budget deficits.
While last year’s state budget was the first in four years enacted before the June 30
deadline, that rare show of bipartisan sanity was likely motivated by
the fact that Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, everyone in the
Republican-controlled state House, and half the Senate were up for
reelection in the fall. Not to mention, the $32.7 billion budget deal
contained several one-time gimmicks to mask deficits, such as moving
$800 million in Medicaid expenses off the main books.
affiliate programSo, it was no surprise shortly after Election Day when the Independent
Fiscal Office projected a $1.7 billion deficit for the coming fiscal
year. (The Wolf administration expects the state to finish the fiscal
year with a surplus, thanks to an improving economy.)
In the meantime, gambling is one of Pennsylvania’s few growth
industries. The Gaming Control Board’s recent report of record revenue
is still considered somewhat flat from previous years. But the state —
spurred by the influential gambling lobby — has become skilled at
finding new ways to entice residents to lose money.
When casinos were first legalized — during a late-night vote with little
debate in 2004 — it was just for slot machines. Six years later, the
state legalized table games, paving the way for full-blown casinos. In
2017, the state legislature allowed casino gambling in airports, truck
stops, betting on sports, and online lottery ticket sales.
The state’s endless gambling expansion underscores the insanity of a
policy designed to strip more and more wealth from citizens. Since the
first casino opened, people have lost $25 billion in the state’s slot
machines, and left an additional $6 billion on the gaming tables. The
recent introduction of sports wagering will extract even more from
people.
Casino gambling isn’t just another form of passive entertainment.
Studies show anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent of slot-machine
revenues come from problem gamblers. Casino executives at Parx,
SugarHouse, and Harrah’s said most of their gamblers visit three to six
times a week.
In short, the casino industry — and the state’s gambling policy —
depends largely on addicts. Harrisburg lawmakers are also hooked on
gambling because slots revenues are taxed at 54 percent, effectively
making the state the majority partner in the casino racket.
But where do the billions of dollars in annual gambling revenues go? The
main argument for legalizing slots years ago was to lower property-tax
bills. How has that worked out for you? Meanwhile, the horse-racing
industry — another business built on gambling — gets more tax revenue
from casinos than the Health or Agriculture Departments. Unfortunately,
the nearly $3 billion that declining industry has gotten since the
beginning hasn’t helped turn it around.
It’s time lawmakers rethought a policy that takes billions of dollars
from people, including many gambling addicts, and each year gives
hundreds of millions to horses.
