Pa. governor calls on state Legislature to finish table games bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell is calling for the Legislature to immediately return to the Capitol to finalize a key piece of the state budget, the legalization of table games in casinos.

Rendell made the request today, three weeks after he signed a major appropriations bill that ended the 101-day budget stalemate.

He’s calling the delay “inexcusable” and says it cannot continue.

Rendell is still holding up $723 million in discretionary taxpayer dollars slated for Penn State and several other Pennsylvania universities until table games are approved.

The Senate’s Republican majority and the House’s Democratic majority still disagree on key parts of the bill.

Those include how high to set the tax rate on the casinos’ take from table games and whether to allow more slot machines at the state’s miniature “resort” casinos.