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Poll: Pennsylvanians Favor Gambling Expansion

12 September 2002

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania – As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Pennsylvanians want the state to spend more on education and prescription drugs for the elderly, but they oppose increasing taxes and favor expanding legalized gambling to raise revenue, according to a statewide survey.

"Seventy percent of the respondents said the state spends too little on subsidizing prescription drugs for senior citizens, 61 percent said too little is spent on public education and 52 percent said the same about higher education, according to the poll by IssuesPA, a project of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

"…Solid majorities favor permissive gambling laws: Sixty-five percent want to expand the state lottery, 63 percent support allowing slot machines at horse racing tracks and 59 percent want riverboat gambling.

"…Both of the major gubernatorial candidates have pledged support for legalizing slot machines at racetracks -- Democrat Edward G. Rendell to help finance his overhaul of public school funding, Republican Mike Fisher to pay for an expansion of prescription drugs for seniors.

"Rendell has also advocated expanding the state's lottery games to help raise money to expand the prescription-drug programs. The former Philadelphia mayor also has not ruled out riverboat gambling, although he has said recently that the chances of his proposing such an initiative are slim.

"A campaign spokesman for Fisher, the state attorney general, reiterated that his boss opposes any expansion of gambling beyond the slots-at-tracks proposal. Kent Gates, Fisher's campaign manager, said he believes support for riverboat gambling would shrink once specific sites are proposed…"

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