October 11

In Pennsylvania, the long rocky road to slots approval and lower school property taxes has hit another deadlock.

State Gaming Control Board members are at loggerheads over how to license slot-machine suppliers. Until they reach consensus, the sole beneficiaries from Pennsylvanians' slots play will continue to be neighboring states where the games are legal.

Governor Rendell is counting on seeing $1 billion in tax revenue from 14 casinos to cut residents' school property taxes by an average of about $340 statewide. Each casino must receive a license from the state gaming board.

The state slots law, endorsed in July 2004, requires casino operators to obtain their games from in-state suppliers. But the law prohibits the board from issuing casino licenses until 90 days after it licenses game manufacturers and suppliers. It hasn't even begun taking applications from would-be suppliers though.