get their act togethe<\/a>r,\u201d Pennsylvania\u2019s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has branded their latest idea \u201cnonsense.\u201d A vote on the plan scheduled for Tuesday did not materialize.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, if GOP House leaders are going to include gambling in an eventual budget plan, they favor a package that would include the authorization of video gaming terminals (VGTs) in bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n
But while the Republican-led Senate can possibly stomach online gambling, it finds VGTs unpalatable, which suggests is a long way away from consensus.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Pennsylvania remains the state most likely to legalize and regulate online gambling next, if the state\u2019s fiscal cliff somehow pushes disparate gambling interests together.<\/p>\n
Michigan Next in Line<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile, Michigan could be the next state to give online gambling legalization a whirl. On Tuesday, State Rep. Brandt Iden introduced H 4926, which is due to be heard by the House Regulatory Reform Committee Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The main obstacle for Michigan is the state\u2019s mix of tribal and commercial gaming. Online gambling regulation must include tribal operators to have a chance at success, but to do that, Iden\u2019s bill makes clear, would require tribes to renegotiate their compacts with the state.<\/p>\n
Last year, a bill from Sen. Mike Kowall<\/a> proposed that tribes would have to \u201crenounce sovereign immunity\u201d to be licensed, which was understandably unpopular and openly opposed by at least four tribal operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pennsylvania legislature is back in session this week, as lawmakers reconvene to resume squabbling about an ever-elusive budget agreement that could, eventually, legalize online gambling. Urgency is growing, though, as the state could go broke on Friday for the first time in its history. Treasurer Joe Torsella and Auditor General\u00a0Eugene DePasquale have warned that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":58507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,19,13,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Pennsylvania Budget Crisis Keeps Online Gambling Hopes Alive<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n