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Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday said he will seek an expansion to the state's gambling laws in an effort to create more revenue without raising taxes, all in an effort to try and close a difficult budget deficit.
And while it may seem like a sure bet on paper -- and the governor deserves some credit for trying to find sources of revenue other than tax increases -- we remain skeptical this would be all it has been made out to be.
Wolf's proposal, made during a meeting with the editorial board of Pennlive.com, would be an expansion to allow licensed bars, Pennsylvania's six international airports and off-track betting parlors to have casino-style gambling in the form of video gaming terminals. It would also permit the state's casinos to allow online gaming.
The claim is that permitting small-town taverns and social clubs to have VGTs will not only prove beneficial to the licensed facilities in the way of new revenue, it will also bring in people who don't live near a casino -- like people in the Juniata Valley -- who aren't inclined to travel to Harrisburg or Pittsburgh very often just to play a few hands of blackjack or poker.
Supporters say a gambling expansion would mean several hundred million dollars of new revenue for the state.
But we've been down this road before.
Just as we were in 2004 with the legalization of slot machines and again in 2010 when table games were permitted for the first time, Pennsylvanians are being promised a financial windfall from the state's gaming industry.
And while the revenue derived from gambling has undoubtedly helped Pennsylvania's budget, it hasn't exactly lived up to all it was sold to be either.
We haven't yet heard anything that makes us believe this time around will be any different. That makes us question whether it's really worth it in the first place, especially given the negative things that typically accompany an activity like gambling.
We are skeptical that enough new revenue will be generated by a gambling expansion to keep this promise, instead of it merely leading mostly to many of the same people who already gamble regularly choosing to do so in a different fashion.
Would an expansion lead to more money in the commonwealth's coffers? Probably. But if you're asking us whether it will meet projections, we'll go with history and place our bet on the "under" on that one.