Pennsylvania Senator summons casino leaders to Jan 3 meeting

Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, has summoned representatives of the state's 12 casinos to Harrisburg for a closed-door meeting in the Capitol on Jan. 3, the day lawmakers are sworn in for the new two-year legislative session.

Changes must be made to Pennsylvania's casino gambling law and work should get started early, Ward said.

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The days of doing nothing are over at this point, Ward said

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In just a decade, Pennsylvania's commercial casino industry has emerged as the nation's No. 2 in consumer spending and No. 1 in tax revenue, according to the American Gaming Association.

A top issue is replacing a provision struck down by the state's high court in September that had required casinos to pay tens of millions of dollars to their host communities for the past decade. The court delayed the effect of its decision for four months, until late January, to give lawmakers time to draft a replacement provision.

In a lawsuit filed by Mount Airy Casino in Swiftwater, the court agreed the assessment was unconstitutional because it treated the state's casinos unequally, and imposed a heavier burden on lower-performing casinos.

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So far, lawmakers have not agreed on how to replace it

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The Senate passed a bill in late October to create a temporary, six-month replacement. But it died in the House and a lawyer for Mount Airy threatened to sue over that, too, saying it was unconstitutional for the same reasons.