Time May Be Right For Ballot On Casinos - 2004-01-03
Could 2004 be the year supporters collect the 30 legislative votes they need to put casinos on the ballot?

It's possible, according to The World-Herald's annual poll of state senators.

Twenty-two senators said they are for putting at least a limited casino measure before voters in 2004, while 10 said they have yet to decide.

On each end of the debate, five lawmakers said they support a constitutional amendment to authorize casinos without limits, and 12 others said they oppose casinos in all circumstances.

The rest seem to be hedging their bets - more or less resigned to expanded gambling but looking for a deal they can live with.
Read the full story at PokerMag.com

Slots, tax cut atop Harrisburg agenda - 2004-01-03
The ever-hopeful Gov. Ed Rendell is predicting that a seven-month deadlock over slot machines and property tax cuts will come to an end by February, but an ongoing dispute with a key senator over Indian gambling threatens to ruin any resolution.

The principals in the impasse are both powerful Democrats from Philadelphia -- Rendell, the former mayor, and state Sen. Vincent Fumo, Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a leading figure in the campaign to introduce slot machines in Pennsylvania.

But much to Rendell's displeasure, Fumo has been trying to create the possibility that some Indian tribes could obtain one of 13 new casino licenses.
Read the full story at Pittsburgh Post Gazette