THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY HICKERNELL, AUMENT, BAKER, BOYD, CLYMER, CUTLER, DENLINGER, FLECK, GABLER, GEIST, GINGRICH, HENNESSEY, HESS, KAUFFMAN, MILNE, MURT, OBERLANDER, M. O'BRIEN, RAPP, SCAVELLO, STERN, SWANGER, TALLMAN AND VULAKOVICH, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON GAMING OVERSIGHT, FEBRUARY 17, 2011  

AN ACT

Prohibiting expansion of gambling and gaming except by

referendum or by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Gambling and

Gaming Control Act.

Section 2.  Certain expansion of gambling and gaming prohibited.

(a)  General rule.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and

(c), no legislation shall be enacted which expands existing

forms of gambling or gaming or authorizes new forms of gambling

or gaming.

(b)  Existing law.--Subsection (a) does not apply to:

(1)  The Pennsylvania State Lottery, as authorized by the

act of August 26, 1971 (P.L.351, No.91), known as the State

Lottery Law.

(2)  Bingo, as authorized by the act of July 10, 1981

(P.L.214, No.67), known as the Bingo Law.

(3)  Pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, as authorized

by the act of December 17, 1981 (P.L.435, No.135), known as

the Race Horse Industry Reform Act.

(4)  Small games of chance, as authorized by the act of

December 19, 1988 (P.L.1262, No.156), known as the Local

Option Small Games of Chance Act.

(5)  Any gaming activity authorized as of July 5, 2004,

by 4 Pa.C.S. Pt. II (relating to gaming).

(c)  New gambling or gaming.--No new forms of gambling or

gaming shall be authorized except:

(1)  by a vote of no less than two-thirds of all the

members elected to each chamber of the General Assembly; or

(2)  upon approval of the electors in a public referendum

as follows:

(i)  the referendum question shall appear on a

primary election ballot pursuant to a concurrent

resolution of the General Assembly and shall utilize

clear language that is readily understandable by a

layperson;

(ii)  the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall draft a

nonlegal interpretive statement which shall accompany the

referendum question in accordance with section 201.1 of

the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known as the

Pennsylvania Election Code;

(iii)  adoption of the referendum shall authorize

enactment of legislation expanding gambling or gaming to

the extent stated in the language of the referendum; and

(iv)  notwithstanding any other provision of this

act, subsequent expansion of new gambling or gaming

authorized pursuant to the provisions of this subsection

shall require resubmission to the electors under this

paragraph or legislative action under paragraph (1).

Section 3.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect immediately.