The measures is being sponsored by state Rep. Stephen Barrar and Jack’s Tavern owner Jerry McArdle, who is also a county delegate to the Pennsylvania State Tavern Association.
“We've just met a lot of resistance by many senators who are beholden to the casinos in Pennsylvania ... If it wasn’t for the casinos in Pennsylvania, we would have these VGTs,” said McArdle in report published by the Daily Times News.
However, opponents of the bill assured the new measures will have a negative impact by allowing casino industry cannibalization.
“The legalization of VGTs will jeopardize the $1.4 billion in tax revenues for the state, the jobs of the 18,000 people working in Pennsylvania casinos and negatively impact our communities by flooding our communities with nearly 40,000 mini-casinos,” Mike Barley, spokesman for Pennsylvanians for Responsible Government.
According to Senator Tom Killion, the state is already "saturated with gaming". He said Pennsylvania needs a comprehensive gaming policy debate to determine if further expansion of gaming is the right thing to do, before approving the bill.