Thanks to a recent bill signed by Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Pennsylvania slot parlors will now be able to serve free drinks between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m..
Let's see. Given a choice between the run-down dump that is Delaware Park and a glitzy new Pennsylvania casino where one can drink for free most of the day, where is the serious slot player going to go?
Never mind the fact that Delaware's slot machines aren't really slot machines because same are specifically forbidden by Article II, Section 17 of the Delaware Constitution; they're actually "video lottery devices". And forget the fact that the legislative intent of such "video lottery devices" was not only to "produce the greatest income for the State" but also to "provide nonstate supported assistance in the form of increased economic activity and vitality for Delaware's harness and thoroughbred horse racing industries, which activity and vitality will enable the industry to improve its facilities and breeding stock, and cause increased employment."
If you put those legal fictions aside, the fact is that the General Assembly seems like it's in a perpetual fog when it comes to the issue of dealing with Delaware's "racinos". No one has the political will to admit that Delaware will be in huge trouble if the slots in Pennsylvania and Maryland become the regional attractions they promise to be. Who will want to schlep to Delaware when they can go to a brand-new Mohegan Tribe casino?
What are the solutions? Table games, sports betting, offtrack betting... you name it, someone has figured out a way to part gamblers from their money. Whatever the case may be, the General Assembly had better figure out a way real fast to make up that lost activity and vitality harness and thoroughbred horse racing industries, which activity and vitality will enable the industry to improve its facilities and breeding stock, and cause increased employment.... er, I mean, lost "income".
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I've heard there's a group that's been working on setting up river boats in the Delaware River that would feature entertainment and gambling. Since the river is within Delaware boundaries, our state would have to approve same. They're supposedly waiting until RAM leave office to push the idea. Have you heard anything on this?
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