Puerto Rico to make slots outside casinos legal

Puerto Rico’s legislator has approved a tax reform that makes slot machines outside casinos legal, in spite of the controversy surrounding the move.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the bill and Governor Ricardo Roselló put his signature make the bill into a law.

The Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico had raised concerns against the move, as it argued that these machines would eat into the revenues of casinos, which indirectly funds government programmes. The organisation’s chief executive Natalie Jaresko had criticised the government’s plan and said that the board had not seen evidence that the video lottery proposal would not eat into other island revenue streams.

Even as it was highly questioned, the piece of legislation is expected to be signed into law by Governor Roselló, who repeatedly voiced his support for it and said he was “satisfied” with the plan and that “if there are no hurdles ahead, I’ll sign the bill.” He also explained that “should any obstacles come up (…) we’ll have to fix them fast.”