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Pennsylvania Senate Approves Controversial Racing Measure Bill Authorizes StateWide Referendum Gov Leader Is Opposed to Track Wagering WageringSpecial Special to Daily Racing Form FormHARRISBURG HARRISBURG Pa May 1 The Penn ¬ sylvania Senate by a vote of 26 to 22 last night approved the controversial bill au thorozing a statewide referendum on horse race betting bettingPassage Passage of the bill came a few hours after Democratic Gov George M Leader expressed opposition to the measure and indicated he would veto it Leader was gen ¬ erally criticized by legislators of both par ¬ ties for talking out against the bill just prior to the vote voteSen Sen John H Dent Democratic leader in the upper house said This isnt the first time the Governor has said he would veto legislation then had to sign it Dent was referring to the sales tax of last session sessionThe The measure was debated for more than an hour prior to the balloting ballotingThe The Rev Melvin Forney general secre ¬ tary of the Lords Day Alliance immedi ¬ ately noted Jhat the roll call vote accounted for 48 senators while only 47 were on the floor I question the way this important bill was handled the Rev Mr Forney said saidWe We are going to take our fight against it to the House he added The Alliance opposed the referendum The bill now goes to the House of Representatives RepresentativesResults Results Could Be Used for Future Guidance GuidanceUnder Under terms of the bill which received just enough votes ta pass the Senate the people of the commonwealth would express an opinion on horse races betting in the Nor 5 general election electionNeither Neither the biir itself nor the referendum would legalize betting but the results of the statewide vote could be used for future legislative guidance on the issue Except for Sen Harry E Seyler DYork who defended the Governors action the members of the upper house were angry about what they termed gubernatorial in ¬ terference with the legislative branch The expressed resentment crossed party lines linesSen Sen Rowland B Mahany Republican floor leader declared Its out of order for the Governor to try to influence the legis ¬ lature on a bill before it Hes looking to his political future Mahany added addedLeader Leader who told a press conference re ¬ cently he would probably sign the racing referendum bill said yesterday On second thought after giving this problem deep and intensive consideration I have decided that any approval of this horse racing ref ¬ erendum represents a sidestepping of responsibility responsibilitySenator Senator Seylor told the Senate It takes more courage for a man to change his mind than to maintain a position he con ¬ siders wrong just to be consistent consistentIm Im goiiig to vote for this bill and the Governor knows it He hasnt tried to in ¬ fluence my vote If anyone here in the Senate can say the Governor tried to in ¬ fluence him I wish he would step forth Seyler declared declaredDemocratic Democratic leader Sen John H Dent contended the Governor has every right to express an opinion and every right to change it if he wants to but he called the Governors statement on the racing bill an obvious attempt to influence this legislature legislatureThat That goes beyond the duties of a gov ¬ ernor Dent told the Senate when one branch of the government interferes with another We are deteriorating as a democracy democracyAs As a former speaker of the Senate Dent said Leader voted for referendums on other questions without indicating that such measures dodged legislative responsibility to settle issues by direct assembly action actionThe The Governors statement on the racing legislation was distributed to the Senators prior to the floor vote It said saidI I dont believe in sidestepping respon ¬ sibility any more than I believe in gam ¬ bling I am unalterably opposed to both bothWhen When I took the oath as Governor I assumed the basic moral obligation of deal ¬ ing with all questions relating to the wel ¬ fare of the people of this commonwealth commonwealthI I am convinced the proposed referen ¬ dum is an evasion of this obligation It would cost an estimated onethird pf a million dollars without deciding the issue one way or the other It merely delays the time of decision decisionI I recognize that my decision may not be politically expedient but I cannot per ¬ mit this to influence my judgment Leader added I am opposed to gambling Therefore I am opposed to this referen ¬ dum dumSen Sen Benjamin R Donolow DPhila said I certainly do not agree with the Governor on the tactics he used I dont think we should be pressured This is not for the best interests of democracy in Pennsylvania Donolow voted for the bill
