Newly legal table games to bring revenue to Allegheny County

With a roll of the dice or a turn of a card, Pennsylvanians will help local libraries.

Last… With a roll of the dice or a turn of a card, Pennsylvanians will help local libraries.

Last week, Gov. Ed Rendell signed Senate Bill 711 into law, making table games — poker, roulette, blackjack and other forms of gambling — legal in Pennsylvania, and some of the proceeds will go to the Allegheny County Library System.

The legislation comes some months after a protracted budget battle between Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature. Many Republicans fought for spending cuts, while many Democrats fought to keep spending at the status quo despite less revenue in the national recession.

The law passed partially as a way to generate more revenue for the state. Revenue from table gaming will initially be taxed at a rate of 14 percent. The rate will drop to 12 percent after this year.

Under the legislation, around 2 percent of the gambling revenue will be put back into the communities that host them.

One percent will go to the Allegheny County Library System. The other 1 percent will go to Allegheny County itself, State Sen. Wayne Fontana, who serves Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities, said.

The legislation could provide as much as $250 million dollars in revenue for the state, according to the Post-Gazette.

For previous legislation passed on slots, which the state considers separate from table games, 2 percent of the revenue went to the county.

But table game licenses will be issued to businesses for a price.

Stand-alone and race track casinos will pay $16.5 million for a license, while resort casinos will pay $7.5 million.

Rivers Casino, the only casino in Pittsburgh, plans to purchase a license for table games from the state. Community relations director George Matta said the casino hopes to have games up and running in four to six months.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board still has to determine the regulations that govern table games. Until that happens, Matta said, the casinos won’t be able to open the table games.

The casino plans to hire and train at least 300 new employees to staff those table games, he said.

He said the addition of table games will bring people to Pittsburgh.

“We now have the same entertainment opportunity as Las Vegas or Atlantic City. We’re a full casino,” Matta said.