By my count, this week saw the introduction of Video Gaming bills five and six of the current legislative session.
HB 1458 and HB 1462 both would call for the Department of Revenue to administer the law with licensing of machine vendors (commonly referred to as route operators), manufacturers and distributors. The bills are nearly identical with the major difference coming in the form of the distribution of proceeds.
Distribution of Proceeds:
HB 1458: 33% to the establishment; 27% to the vendor/route operator; 30% to the Commonwealth's Property Tax Relief Fund; 5% to the host municipality for each machine; 5% to licensed casinos in Pennsylvania (although no specifics on how this 5% is distributed among the casinos).
HB 1462: 33% to the establishment; 27% to the vendor/route operator; 30% to the Public School Employees' Retirement Contribution Restricted Account; 5% to the host municipality for each machine; 5% to licensed casinos in Pennsylvania (again, no specifics on how this 5% is distributed among the casinos).
Other Important Notes Regarding HB 1458 and HB 1462:
Residency Requirements: Route operators would have a 2 year residency requirements (10%+ owners of corporate vendors would be required to meet the 2 year residency requirement. Distributors would be subject to a 1 year residency requirement whereas manufacturers would not be subject to any residency requirement.
Advertising Restriction: Both bills propose a complete ban on all advertising of the video gaming machines.
Limited Number of Machines: These bills limit all establishments, regardless of size, to three machines.
Max Bet and Payout: The max bet is limited to $2.50 and the maximum payout is $1,000 with a minimum payout percentage of 85% per machine.
Stay tuned here as we track these and the previously introduced video gaming bills. For detailed information on these other bills, check my blog entries here, here and here.
Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.
