Pennsylvania is one of the US states, commonly recognized as the one, which is an innovator when it comes to legalization of online gambling activities. The authorities are about to decide whether to make the online gambling affairs legal in 2015 or not. According to them, the residents of Pennsylvania will have the final say and the decision should be taken through fair elections. The midterm elections took place last week and they are believed to have a great influence over regulators’ decision about the online gambling legislation.
Surprising or not, it seems like the outgoing Governor of the Keystone State supports neither the legislation bill nor its rejection. However, the Governor Tom Wolf, who is going to take the reigns of the state, has officially announced that he is totally against the further development of the gambling sector in the state.
Before being officially selected, Wolf said that he is not going to approve of the gambling legislation but he refused giving a detailed answer and supporting his standpoint. Yet, he is believed to have the power to solve the financial problems of the state without legalizing any gambling activities. What is more, Wolf is going to fiercely oppose any attempt for gambling legislation, regardless of the organization that proposes it.
As a matter of fact, the gubernatorial change is closely connected to the gambling legalization affairs. Ten years ago, the former Governor gave his consent to the establishment of casinos within the state with the aim of boosting the local economy and helping the investors. One of his top priorities was keeping the property taxes in the reasonable range and improving the education. To a certain extent, he succeeded in his venture but unfortunately, his efforts were not sufficient. Nobody dared to deny the fact that the casino approval had a positive effect on the economy of Pennsylvania but the legislation didn’t solve the financial issues of the state.
Those who are familiar with the issues, concerning Pennsylvania, can easily notice, that the state is currently experiencing the same setbacks it had ten years ago. The new Governor will have to deal with the challenging mission of coping with the increase of the property taxes and find sufficient funds for education. What makes the difference now is the fact that there are casinos in Pennsylvania.
The new Governor is absolutely aware of the financial difficulties, because he used to work in the administration during the time when Rendell was responsible for solving the urgent problems of the state. Nevertheless Wolf is not going to allow the gambling industry to expand. All his efforts will be concentrated on solving the baffling issues of Pennsylvania but according to him, the funds, will not be raised from casinos and online gambling activities.
However, some vivid analysts predicted that soon, Wolf might realize that the expansion of the land-based casinos and the legalization of the online ones is the only remaining alternative for ensuring the money, needed for education.
