House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	May 5, 2015 09:15 AM
From:	Representative Eddie Day Pashinski
To:	All House members
Subject:	Video Lottery Authorization to Fund Pensions

MEMORANDUM TO: All Members of the House of Representatives FROM: Representative Eddie Day Pashinski DATE: May 5, 2015 SUBJECT: Co-sponsorship of Legislation – Video Lottery Authorization to Fund Pensions In the near future, I intend to introduce a package of legislation similar to legislation I introduced last session authorizing the Department of Revenue to establish and regulate video gaming machines in restaurants, bars, and clubs with a valid Liquor License under Article IV of the Liquor Code. This package consists of two bills: the first bill would authorize video gaming, and the second bill would direct the Commonwealth’s share of revenue be used to issue bonds to help pay down the unfunded pension liability. The first bill builds off of previous proposals made to implement keno and other video lottery games. The primary difference between this bill and my House Bill 1932 from the 2013-2014 Legislative Session is the distribution of net profits, with the proceeds being disbursed as follows: 30 percent to the newly-established Public School Employees’ Retirement Contribution Restricted Account 33 percent to the licensed establishment 27 percent to the licensed vendor 5 percent to the host municipality 5 percent to Category 1, 2, and 3 Licensed Casinos Each licensed establishment would be limited to a maximum of three video gaming machines. The video gaming machines would be connected to the Pennsylvania Lottery’s Central Computer system, which would be able to track the operations of the machines in real time, ensuring their integrity and compliance. The second bill directs the Secretary of the Budget, the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, and the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority to work in conjunction to issue bonds to pay down the unfunded pension liability. Various estimates indicate that there are still thousands of illegal video gaming terminals in use throughout the Commonwealth, operating in the shadows without oversight. We have a duty to protect Pennsylvanians from unscrupulous operators by bringing this activity into the light of day, regulating these machines to ensure payouts are not being unfairly manipulated. At the same time, we have an opportunity to use the proceeds to have the markets do the heavy lifting in reducing our unfunded pension liability instead of the taxpayers, while also helping clubs and businesses across the state to succeed and providing desperately needed revenue to our municipalities. I hope you will join me in protecting taxpayers and retirees by supporting this win-win-win legislation. PREVIOUS SPONSORS: KOTIK, MAHONEY, COHEN, MOUL, READSHAW, CALTAGIRONE, BURNS, YOUNGBLOOD, MASSER, and EVERETT

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