Slot machines in Pennsylvania airports proposed

House Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman Nick Kotik, D-Allegheny, announced Wednesday the introduction of House Bill 1408.

If passed by the House and Senate during the 2015-16 session and signed into law by the governor, the measure would permit slot machines at Pennsylvania's six international airports: Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Erie.

The slot machines would be installed only within secure areas of a terminal, beyond U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, according to the proposal. The number of machines per airport would be limited, based on the number of boarding passengers.

"My proposal would utilize a portion of the revenue generated from airport slot machines to help revitalize our international airports, which are quickly becoming outdated," Kotik wrote in a memo to fellow House members. "An additional portion is allocated to help incentivize local municipalities to better consolidate services and personnel."

Lehigh Valley International's executive director, Charles Everett, said he would welcome the new revenue source. "We do support progressing the bill," Everett said Wednesday. "It certainly provides an additional, non-aeronautical revenue opportunity for airports in the state."

Only two airports in the United States permit slot machines, and both are in Nevada: McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno.

Several states — including New York, Maryland, Illinois, Florida and Hawaii — have started to explore plans to legalize the operation of slot machines in airports, according to Kotik.

"This is our chance to stay ahead of the curve," Kotik said in a statement. "Airports have a steady stream of people going in and going out – thousands every day. Real dollars in, real dollars out. Electing to play a slot machine while waiting to board a flight translates back into real help for the state."

The proposal also comes amid burgeoning competition in neighboring states for the region's gambling dollars. In New Jersey, a bill has passed Assembly and Senate committees on its way to the full Legislature that would water down the requirements of a 2011 law designed to attract developers willing to build new, smaller and less costly casinos with as few as 200 hotel rooms.

It also removes a requirement that they be new construction. The new bill would let casinos be established in existing buildings.

Lawmakers in New Jersey are trying to stem the loss of gambling revenue, after Atlantic City lost four of its 12 casinos last year. No one has built one of the new casinos since Gov. Chris Christie signed 2011 law that January.

Florida's Seminole Indians, through their Hard Rock International franchise, proposed one but pulled out soon afterward. Hard Rock is now partnering with the Meadowlands Racetrack on a proposed casino just outside New York City that they would build if the state amends its Constitution to allow casinos in places other than Atlantic City.

Consultants in a Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee report issued May 7, 2014, said slot machines at certain airports could be a way of generating new gaming revenue.

"The study concluded that Pennsylvania could generate significant revenue from this authorization, and there would likely be no cannibalization of existing Pennsylvania casinos with the addition of these new machines.", Kotik wrote in his memo.