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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 26, 2017 03:44 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Rosita C. Youngblood |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Updating Philadelphia's local share assessment |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would provide additional funding to the Philadelphia School District by better utilizing local casino revenues. Specifically, the legislation would amend the section of the state's Gaming Act that deals with the local share assessment for Philadelphia's casinos. Under current law, only the first $5 million of the city’s local share assessment is allocated to the Philadelphia School District, with the remaining money going to the city's General Fund. But this current allocation formula does not take into consideration additional revenue from the proposed second Philadelphia casino currently under review. My bill would require at least 50% of the city’s local share assessment, or $5 million, whichever is greater, to go to the Philadelphia School District. This formula better represents the original intent of the city’s local share allocation. In total, Philadelphia has received more than $58 million since gaming began in the city. It is estimated Philadelphia will receive close to $10 million from the gaming local share assessment this year, and with a second Philadelphia casino soon to break ground, it is estimated the city could see an additional $10 million a year from this revenue moving forward. My proposal would boost revenues going to our school district, providing a dedicated funding stream that could help our schools and boost the education of our children. It is important to note that this proposal would change the local share assessment allocation for Philadelphia only, and would not impact the allocation of funding for any other city or county local share assessment, or the state revenues collected for property and wage tax relief. I hope you will join me in cosponsoring this legislation. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact my Harrisburg office at 717-772-9920. |