HARRISBURG — A poll by Quinnipiac University released Wednesday shows almost 2-to-1 support statewide for legalizing stand-alone slot machine parlors in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Parlors at off-track locations are part of a bill approved last month by the state House that also would legalize slots at nine racetracks. The bill, backed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Republican House Speaker John Perzel, has been buried by the state Senate, which approved a less expansive slot bill.
Still, key components of the House bill are expected to survive negotiations between the House and Senate. Both are in recess until September.
The poll by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., found that 60 percent of Pennsylvania voters favor nontrack slot parlors in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, while 36 percent do not.
Voter support for slots at racetracks to pay for property tax cuts is even stronger, said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac's Polling Institute. Sixty-six percent of those polled support slots at tracks while 29 percent oppose them.
A regional breakdown shows 60 percent of Allegheny County voters support an off-track slots parlor and 68 percent of Philadelphia voters support one.
The poll of 1,037 randomly selected Pennsylvania voters was conducted from July 30 through Monday. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll mentions Pittsburgh as a site for an off-track slots parlor, which Rendell and Perzel initially proposed. The House-passed bill authorizes a parlor in the seven-county Pittsburgh region. House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, a Greene County Democrat, sponsored the successful amendment to leave the door open for Nemacolin Woodlands, a posh resort in Fayette County, to apply for the nontrack slots license.
As much as those polled favor the slots, they are equally against gambling industry officials making political contributions. A provision that would ban such contributions is included in the Senate version of the bill but was stripped out by the House.
One of the strongest selling points of introducing slots is that the revenue could be used to reduce property taxes. Rendell and Perzel say the House bill, with nine track locations and two off-track parlors, would generate $1 billion annually for reducing property taxes.
A recent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League suggests those numbers are exaggerated. Bringing in $1 billion in Pennsylvania would require more gambling revenue than the $711 million collected in Nevada, the home of the crown jewel of gambling, Las Vegas.
Voters blame the state's budget mess on the governor and the Legislature, according to the poll.
Rendell received a bare majority of public support -- a 51 percent overall approval rating. While better than the rating of governors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Rendell's numbers show "no overwhelming mandate here," Richards said.
On handling the state budget, which is unresolved with public education money still up in the air, Rendell received a 42 percent approval rating and 40 percent disapproval rating -- a figure within the margin of error. The numbers run heavily against Rendell in Allegheny County and Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The Legislature got a negative rating -- 27 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval -- on the budget, with strong disapproval in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The poll shows 64 percent of voters believe Rendell and the Legislature are both to blame for the budget impasse.
Bumsted is Capitol reporter for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com or (717) 787-1405.
