Bi-Partisan Failure!

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts 'GAMING' Future

I know there was no chance of getting the casino monthly statements legislation passed In Pennsylvania when Rendell was governor and the Democrats controlled our House of Representatives. After all it was his administration that brought gaming to our state, but I thought it was going to happen when Corbett became governor and the Republicans took control of the House. Up until then they supported this vital piece of legislation that’s been put forth in our House and Senate for the last four sessions.

Open the links below and listen to what Corbett said about casinos and the casino monthly statements legislation when he was Attorney General and now Governor.

Philadelphia Daily News - June 10, 2014 - A bad bet: GOP Governors Assn. crossed state law with donation

A POLITICAL-action committee set up to help Gov. Corbett win re-election received nearly $1 million from a billionaire casino investor barred from making political contributions in Pennsylvania.

The Republican Governors Association, chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, reported receiving $1 million for its federal political-action committee on Dec. 31 from Sheldon Adelson, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20140610_A_bad_bet__GOP_Governors_Assn__crossed_state_law_with_donation.html#e1B2alBIg6ATmr0f.99
Gov. Corbett:
1 - http://www.veoh.com/watch/v6214750566BfNK77?h1=Kearney+and+Gov.+Corbett
2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppicskxEn4k
3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUeIRDG_OFY
Gov. Rendell:
1 - http://www.veoh.com/watch/v14212064NrPDa82s?autoDownload=true

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Gambling report warns of casino 'cannibalization'

May 7, 2014

By Karen Langley and Bill Toland / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG -- A proposed Lawrence County racetrack and casino would have an impact, though not a large one, on revenue at Rivers Casino, according to a report on Pennsylvania gaming commissioned by the state Legislature.

The report, by Econsult Solutions of Philadelphia, found Pittsburgh-area casinos face increased competition from Ohio venues and from the proposed Lawrence Downs, about one hour north of Pittsburgh.

The consultants concluded that while much of the potential loss to gaming from Ohio already has occurred, a new casino in Youngstown will erode Pittsburgh-area casino revenue "at the margin" but should not cause financial distress.

The report was issued the day before the state Gaming Control Board's scheduled public hearing regarding the proposed harness racetrack and casino in Lawrence County. That project -- now being called Lawrence Downs Casino and Racing Resort -- has gone through multiple ownership changes and has been on the drawing board for more than a decade.

The proposed casino, and others in Pennsylvania, are vulnerable to market "cannibalization" from Ohio, Maryland and New York, the report found. Ohio is expected to go from no casinos in 2011 to 11 by 2014, according to the study.

That loss of market share would be a reversal of a trend that has been in place since the first Pennsylvania casino opened in 2006; Pennsylvania casinos have been attracting gamblers who had previously spent money in West Virginia, Delaware and especially Atlantic City, N.J.

The report also found Pennsylvania could generate $113 million in annual tax revenues by authorizing online gaming, a finding of interest in the Capitol as legislators enter what promises to be a difficult budget season. The state faces an estimated budget shortfall of $1.3 billion through June 2015, according to a revenue forecast issued last week from the Independent Fiscal Office.

"As we move forward, authorization of online gambling in the state will be explored," Joe Scarnati, Senate president pro tem and a Jefferson County Republican, said in a statement responding to the report.

A spokesman for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, however, made it sound unlikely such an expansion of gaming could take effect for the next fiscal year.

"Without having fully reviewed the report, and without a legislative interpretation of the report, it would appear very difficult to implement Internet gaming prior to June 30," said spokesman Jay Pagni.

Tax revenue from Pennsylvania's casinos grew between 2006 and 2012 before dropping by 4 percent in 2013, a trend the study said likely is attributable to increased competition from neighboring states, stagnating slots revenues nationwide and a tax structure that decreases the rate for table games after two years.

The report concluded the Pennsylvania gaming market "is not currently saturated," but that the potential for growth is not large enough to produce the kind of revenue gain seen in past years.

Market saturation is on the mind of Peg Wilson, president of the Greater Washington County Food Bank. She's one of the Washington County officials scheduled to speak at today's hearing in Lawrence County.

A new casino in Lawrence County would mean more competition for The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, about 60 miles to the south of New Castle.

"The Meadows has been very good to me and my people," Ms. Wilson said. The casino "came in and hired all these people" who had previously been receiving food bank donations. If the Meadows loses business, the workers in Washington County could suffer, she said.

Several other Washington County political and business officials are scheduled to testify today in opposition to Lawrence Downs. But Washington County has seen much good fortune over the last several years, thanks to the casino as well as the Marcellus Shale drilling and office boon, and most of today's 50 or so speakers believe it's Lawrence County that needs a good break, not Washington.

Besides, said Bob McCracken, head of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, "I don't see us competing with The Meadows or Erie," which is home to Presque Isle Downs and Casino.

The real competition for Lawrence County, he said, will be 20 or so miles to the west, near Youngstown, where Penn National Gaming plans to open its Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course this autumn. That racetrack won't have full table games and slots like Lawrence Downs would, but even so, the gaming board should act to preserve that market.

It's "better the state get control of this side of the border than let the market share go to [Austintown, Ohio]," said Mr. McCracken.

As of last year, Penn National also is an investor in the Lawrence County project, along with Philadelphia-based Endeka Entertainment, which bought the rights to the long-stalled racetrack project in 2012. Endeka will give an hourlong presentation at the start of today's hearing, scheduled at 10 a.m. at the Mahoning Township community center along Route 224 in Lawrence County.

Republican County Commissioner Dan Vogler said that if Penn National is willing to bet its own money that the two next-door casinos won't cannibalize each other, he, too, thinks the casinos can coexist.

Mr. Vogler, also set to testify today, said he will remind the gaming board of the "economic impact this will have -- not just in the county, but also the region." The casino and racetrack could mean hundreds of temporary construction jobs and hundreds more permanent jobs once the facility opens.

Endeka already possesses a racing license from the state Harness Racing Commission, but it also must secure a casino license from the state gaming board before it could open. Endeka and Penn National applied for that gaming license last summer, telling the state that it hopes to build a $160 million track with 1,250 slot machines and 40 table games.

After today's hearing, the gaming board will schedule a "suitability" hearing to discuss the casino's financing, ownership, projected audience and other viability issues.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/05/08/Gambling-report-warns-of-casino-cannibalization/stories/201405080217#ixzz31AZDnupe

Disappearing emails in PA?

 

The curious case of Corbett's deleted emails

By Brad Bumsted
State Capitol Reporter, 717-787-1405

Published: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, 9:00 p.m.

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HARRISBURG

Whatever you wanted to believe was reflected in the set of facts surrounding the dramatic revision of the Pennsylvania attorney general's email retention policy from five years to six months in February 2011.

It depended on your point of view and your like or dislike of Tom Corbett. He's the Republican governor who, as former AG, put corrupt lawmakers behind bars and began the investigation that led to the conviction of serial child molester Jerry Sandusky nine months after he became governor.

If you support Corbett, you saw the development, perhaps, as another annoying stage in a political move by Democrat Attorney General Kathleen Kane. She's conducting an unprecedented investigation of a highly successful criminal probe that resulted in Sandusky's conviction on 45 of 48 charges of molesting boys.

If you're against Corbett, who is seeking re-election as governor, the deletion of up to 1 million emails by Corbett's longtime top assistant Bill Ryan, as acting attorney general, was proof that a guy who convicted public officials with emails that were, in many cases, five to seven years old, caught a break with the dumping of his own emails. You would feel Kane is warranted in looking into the almost three years it took to convict Sandusky. Many of those critics see the email policy change as a cover-up to protect Corbett and other old-hand prosecutors.

In the least, it is a head-scratching and surprising development in Kane's investigation to unravel the events surrounding the Sandusky case. About the only thing you can safely conclude is that it helps explain why her investigation — a campaign promise — has taken over a year. She is reconstructing up to 1 million emails — a figure believed to be extremely conservative.

The set of facts was bad for Ryan and Corbett, though their longtime Information Technology director James Ignalzo told the Trib it was a “cost” and “management issue,” not a cover-up. And there's no proof of any wrongdoing, misconduct or bad intent.

To some, suspicion arises from facts like Ryan being awarded a plum job by Corbett, a $150,000-per-year post as chairman of the Gaming Control Board in August 2011.

And the fact is that Ryan had no way of knowing in February 2011 that a Democrat would become attorney general or that Kane would come out of nowhere to become the state's first woman AG. When Ryan made the decision, the Sandusky case was a month away from going public.

 

If the email deletions were aimed at protecting anyone, the timeline suggests it had more to do with Corbett's public corruption cases pending at the time. But even that's a big if.

 

http://triblive.com/mobile/5631409-96/corbett-emails-ryan