Public Over Private: Issuing the PA Slots License

This morning, the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission granted a slots license to the Majestic Casino bid, which will bring gambling to the North Shore. I don't like the idea of having gambling in PA to begin with, however, thanks to Gov. Rendell, it was going to be inevitable. Being the life-long Penguins supporter that I have, I of course had to hope for the Isle of Capri plan. In the end, unfortunately, what happened was a loss for private enterprise and a win for public funding.

As a conservative, I always believe that the private industry can do it better, even in the case of building a new sports arena. It's been done in the past and has proven to be an extremely successful business model (just look at the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have an arena built completely with private dollars.) The Isle of Capri casino corporation sided exclusively with the Pens, promising to give them $290 million dollars for a new arena up-front, without any state funding. It would be the dream come true for Pens, whose lease at Mellon Arena ends in June. It would also be a triumph for private business, something that can't exactly be said for the Steelers and Pirates' stadium, which were both built with public dollars.

The choice of the gaming commission shows their continuing belief in public funding. Rather than let a private business do it all themselves, they chose to have tax payer dollars contribute to the new multi-purpose arena. I realize that there are other factors for choosing the casino--trust me, my mom is an economic developer, so I heard all sides of the story. But to reduce the argument to a black and white facet: private vs public-funded arena, this was certainly a loss for the private sector and for tax-payers everywhere.