Lawmakers, city at odds over table-games revenue

Adding table games to Pennsylvania slot parlors could bring some Philadelphia community groups the biggest windfall of cash since former state Sen. Vince Fumo tapped Peco Energy to give millions to his nonprofit Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.

As lawmakers in Harrisburg negotiate table-game legislation, some hope to capture a share of the profits for favored local projects around the state, like a Scranton medical school. And two Philadelphia lawmakers want money targeted to neighborhood groups in the area of the city's casinos.

Mayor Nutter is against the idea. If, as appears likely, 1 or 2 percent of table-game profits are tapped for what's being dubbed the "local share" of revenue, he wants that money to go to the city or municipality that hosts the casino and that has to deal with the traffic, congestion and police issues they create.

"We are concerned about anything that would divert much needed financial resources from city coffers," said Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver, "particularly when it's clear that the city would be incurring additional expenses that would be directly related to the operation of any casino."

Two casinos are planned for Philadelphia on the Delaware waterfront. State officials estimate that a 2 percent tax of table-game profits in the city would yield $3 million- $4 million a year.

A table-games amendment sponsored by South Philadelphia Democratic state Rep. Mike O'Brien would direct 70 percent of Philadelphia's local revenue share to community groups near the casinos, with the distribution overseen by a board dominated by local legislators.

That proposal raised hackles in Harrisburg because it evoked memories of Citizens Alliance, the nonprofit controlled and lavishly funded by Fumo before it was embroiled in the massive corruption case that sent Fumo and its executive director to prison.

O'Brien said that he has no interest in controlling the local money and that he's working with state Sen. Larry Farnese on language that will ensure that the groups funded are independent and their spending transparent.

But he strongly believes that a large share of the money should stay in communities affected by casinos, and not simply handed to the city government.

"If you look back under various city administration proposals, the libraries in the impacted area would have been closed, pools would have closed," O'Brien said. "I want to make sure some money gets back to the local communities."

Farnese agrees, and said he was working on a structure for administering the money that will ensure "it's open and transparent, that people know where their money is going, and that it's free from political influence."

While Philadelphia lawmakers have their eyes on money for community groups, legislators elsewhere are looking to fund favorite projects of their own.

Language in one table-games bill proposes that a share of table-game profits in "a county of the fifth class" go to "grants for a school of medicine located in a city of the second class A within a county of the third class."

Insiders know that provision refers to the Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, a newly opened medical school championed by Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow.

In Erie, funds are targeted for a planned community college. In Dauphin County, a violent-crime task force would benefit.

Legislative leaders have been meeting privately for weeks on table-games legislation. A resolution is not expected until after Thanksgiving.