Published: November 04, 2009 04:12 pm      

NEW – Table games stalemate bumps against tuition bills

HARRISBURG — An entrenched stalemate in the Capitol may mean students at four Pennsylvania universities will soon see higher second-semester tuition bills.

The latest meeting Wednesday between Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders on a bill to legalize and tax casino table games such as poker broke up without an agreement on key issues.

Last month’s budget agreement between Rendell and top legislators assumes the approval of a table games bill to raise $200 million for the cash-strapped state government.

Until a bill is approved, Rendell is holding up discretionary taxpayer dollars slated for several Pennsylvania universities.

The presidents of Temple, Pitt, Lincoln and Penn State have warned that the holdup could force them to increase second-semester tuition for more than 150,000 students.

The schools are set to issue those bills beginning next week.