Rep. Tina Davis, the authoress of the Pennsylvania online gambling legalisation bill HB1235, has managed to refer it to the Committee on Gaming Oversight, along with other eleven co-sponsors: Dom Costa, Vanessa Lowery Brown, John Sabatina, RoseMarie Swanger, Thomas Caltagirone, George Dunbar, Rosita Youngblood, William Kortz, Mark Cohen, Ed Neilson, and John Galloway.
Moreover, the content of the bill was published on the Pennsylvanian legislature website this week, and several very important points include that only existing category 3 slot machine licensees may apply to operate internet gambling and of those only licensees who hold a valid seasonal or year-round membership.
"The Commonwealth has a legitimate State interest in protecting the integrity of State-authorized intrastate Internet gaming by licensing those entities already engaged in the conduct of gaming in this Commonwealth, which are subject to the scrutiny and discipline of the board and other regulatory agencies and which are in good standing with those agencies."
Underlined is that licensees and players are required to maintain a physical presence in the State, and that players must be minimum 21 years of age.
As for the slot machine licensee that is issued an Internet gaming certificate, each must pay a one-time non-refundable authorization fee in the amount of $5 million. The certificate is renewable every three years and they must pay a renewal fee in the amount of $500,000 upon the renewal of its Internet gaming certificate.
The important issue of tax rates was sorted out as each slot machine licensee that operates Internet gaming must pay a tax of 28 percent of its daily Internet gaming gross revenue while the use of funds derived from the internet gaming tax will comprise:
- 85 percent deposited into the State Lottery Fund, of which:
55 percent will be allocated solely for the provision of property tax relief for the elderly;
30 percent will be used to provide free or reduced fare transit services for the elderly.
- the remaining 15 percent will be deposited into the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund.
