OPINION: Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania recovers, but at what cost?

The coronavirus pandemic is fading, and life in the Keystone State is returning to some semblance of normalcy. Therefore, state-sanctioned gambling appears to be on the mend and, in fact, growing in Pennsylvania.

But this has prompted a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy to revive an important question: “Is the growth of gaming in Pennsylvania a good thing?” asks Frank Gamrat, executive director of the Pittsburgh think tank.

There is no doubt that gaming revenues have become an important source of government funding in Pennsylvania. State and local governments rely on gaming for everything. It helps then in property tax relief, contributions, general fund revenue, as well as county and municipal host government payments.