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Girls Soccer: Dallas, Crestwood to square off in District 2 quarters

Local sports roundup: Jess Sorick, Wyoming Area top North Pocono

<p>HARRISBURG &#8212; A bill is pending in the state House of Representatives that, if passed, would legalize slot machines at a number of airports in the state, including Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.</p><p>The text of House Bill 1408, referred to the Committee on Gaming Oversight in June, would allow slot machine licensees to place machines in the terminals of &#8220;qualified airports&#8221; &#8212; a definition which includes any airport that &#8220;provides services for an airline flight outside the contiguous United States at least once annually.&#8221;</p><p>Licensees would be required to gain approval of the airport&#8217;s governing authority and to submit a detailed operations plan.</p><p>Under the bill, a &#8220;qualified municipal airport&#8221; like Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would be able to enter into agreements with multiple licensees as long as it didn&#8217;t house more than 500 machines at a time. Licensees would be required to pay a one-time fee of $1,000 per machine and wouldn&#8217;t be authorized to operate table games.</p><p>USA Today reported Tuesday that a hearing on the bill held Monday at Harrisburg International Airport saw airport officials from Pittsburgh and Harrisburg voice support for the idea as a tool for revenue generation, while Philadelphia airport officials said they feared slot machines might hurt the airport&#8217;s image.</p><p>Mike Bean, president of the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Township, told the Times Leader he worries about airport slots &#8220;cannibalizing the existing market,&#8221; and questions the profitability of airport slots in Northeast Pennsylvania.</p><p>Travellers at the the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport often don&#8217;t spend enough time there to make installing machines worth the expenses they&#8217;d likely incur in the bill&#8217;s current form, Bean said.</p><p>Licensees would be taxed 34 percent of their daily gross revenues from each facility, 60 percent of which would go to the gaming entity operating the machines, 10 percent to the airport authority and 30 percent to a &#8220;municipal services fund&#8221; established by the state treasury.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bean </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_MikeBean12.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bean </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Times Leader staff</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Bill would allow slot machines at W-B/Scranton airport