Pennsylvania
Conference Slams Slots
As reported by the New
Jersey Express-Times: "Las Vegas Sands
Corp. was a top sponsor of this week's gathering
of community planners in the city, but you wouldn't
have guessed that at Wednesday's session on
slots in Pennsylvania.
"One speaker
at the session, which closed out the Pennsylvania
Planning Association's annual conference, projected
social costs will match projected state revenue
dollar for dollar. Another said West Virginia's
experiencing a windfall, while another gave
reasons why gambling won't help Pennsylvania.
"And fourth speaker, a school board member,
said property taxes are fine as is, without
being offset by gambling revenue.
"The picture that speakers painted of
Pennsylvania slots began rosy enough.
"'There is no doubt that the introduction
of 60,000 slot machines is going to bring huge
economic benefits for the state of Pennsylvania,'
said Arthur Sterngold, a professor of business
at Lycoming College in Williamsport and the
first presenter at Wednesday's session.
"But gauging whether the overall impact
will be positive or negative is nearly impossible,
Sterngold said. He cautioned that most gambling
studies are unreliable and fueled by bias…"
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