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Delaware Senate Approves $10 Million Casino Bailout Bill

Don Rush

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Senate lawmakers have approved a $10 million financial bailout for Delaware's three gambling casinos.

The Senate voted 14-5 Wednesday on legislation to help the casinos, which say they are struggling with increased competition from neighboring states and have to share too much of their gambling revenue with the state.

The bill, which now goes to the House, calls for the state to help pay vendor costs for slot machines that currently come out of the casinos' share of gambling revenue.

The change would take effect in July 2015, at an estimated cost to the state of about $10 million annually.

To help the casinos until then, lawmakers cobbled together a similar amount of taxpayer money from unspent funds that are supposed to be used for economic development projects.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.