Senate Passes Key Separate Bill Reforming Gaming
Farnese: “Gaming needed to be reformed first, before trying to expand it with table games.”

HARRISBURG, October 9, 2009 — The Pennsylvania State Senate, Friday, unanimously passed Senate Bill 1088. The legislation overhauls gaming and the operations of the state Gaming Control Board, and would restore the ban on campaign contributions by casino operators.

S.B.1088 is just one of the Senate’s responses to House action earlier this week, which merged the authorization of table games into the Senate’s first gaming reform legislation, Senate Bill 711.

Senator Farnese had long called for gaming reform to be passed separately, unlike the House’s measure.

“I am not anti-gaming, but you cannot expand the very thing you are trying to reform in the same piece of legislation,” said the senator. “I am pleased the Senate chose to keep table games out of this reform bill.”

The bill also requires the Gaming Board to hold public hearings and accept public comment whenever a casino seeks to redesign on relocate. In cases when resiting and/or redesign issues are on the table, the Gaming board must also hold such meetings in the city or town hosting the casino.

“I pledged during my campaign that I would work to make this process more open,” Farnese said, adding, “The original Gaming Act failed to give communities proper, fair, and adequate input. I’m pleased that the people who are most affected by casinos will now have the right to a real voice in casino development.”

The senator, however, expressed disappointment that other provisions did not make it into the bill, including a ban on serving free liquor in casinos or providing credit to slot machine players.

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About Senator Larry Farnese: Sen. Farnese, a Democrat, represents the First Senatorial District of Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Senate since January 2009 and serves on the following Senate Committees: Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness (Minority Chair), Appropriations, Banking & Insurance, Communications & Technology, Education, and Labor & Industry. He is also an appointed member of the Pennsylvania Housing Advisory Committee, a state interagency council tasked with finding solutions to ending homelessness throughout the Commonwealth.

About Sen. Farnese’s District: The First Senatorial District includes these Philadelphia neighborhoods: Bella Vista, Brewery Town, Chinatown, Eastwick, Fairmount, Fishtown, Girard Estate, Graduate Hospital, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Jefferson Square, Logan Circle, Lower Kensington, Northern Liberties, Old City, Packer Park, Pennsport, Point Breeze, Port Richmond, Queen Village, Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, Washington West, and Whitman.

www.senatorfarnese.com