Letters: Casino wins come at someone else’s expense

Casino wins come at someone else’s expense

According to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) communications director Doug Harbach, the PGCB mandates that Happy Valley Casino donate the proceeds of its Test Days to charities. A gift given under compulsion is hardly a gift.

The PGCB touts the state’s casinos having donated more than $213 million to charitable causes since 2007. Over the same time period, Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos have generated over $52 billion in cumulative gross revenue. Therefore, the casinos’ charitable giving is only about four tenths of one percent of their cumulative gross revenue. If Happy Valley Casino is like Pennsylvania’s other casinos, it will extract multiple orders of magnitude more from our community than it donates.

Although the casino is not officially open, gambling taxes will still be collected on the Test Days. Gamblers will still owe income taxes on winnings, and possibly also on gambling-derived “phantom income” even if their losses exceed their winnings.

Some people who gamble in the casino on the Test Days may actually win more than they lose. Because the casino is donating only its net proceeds, every dollar these people win will reduce the amount the charities receive. Gamblers attending the Test Days will be betting against the State College Food Bank and the YMCA.

Everything that a person wins in a casino can only come at someone else’s expense.

The food bank and the YMCA both contribute significantly to our community. Please donate your time and/or money to these organizations directly so they will receive all of your support.

Andrew Shaffer, State College

PA should make it easier to adopt plug-in solar

With energy bills already climbing, Centre County residents are rightly worried about proposed data centers and how they will increase demand for electricity, alongside other valid concerns. (”2 more Centre County townships take steps to prepare for possible data centers,” CDT, April 16). Luckily, there is a safe, affordable, and effective technology that has taken off in Europe and is gaining momentum in the U.S. which can help both owners and renters alike supplement their energy costs.

Plug-in solar panels are one great solution that individuals, even those living in apartments and rentals, can use to reduce demand on the grid, lower energy bills, and become more energy independent. Despite this technology being proven safe and effective, many states in the U.S. have outdated and unnecessary red tape that makes it hard for individuals to adopt plug-in solar.

Utah and Maine have already passed legislation to support this energy solution, Colorado and Virigina have legislation that has passed both chambers, and a handful of other states have moved legislation through at least one chamber. Pennsylvania has legislation introduced (HB 1971) that will support the adoption of plug-in solar across the commonwealth.

This is a bipartisan solution that will help to address rising costs, energy demands, and the climate crisis all at once. I encourage my fellow Centre County residents to voice your support to our representatives so that we can pass this bill and join the other states who are making this solution a reality!

Dom Feola, State College