Gaming Control Board's Director of Licensing A PAnelist At Council of State Governments Forum

HARRISBURG, PA: Susan Hensel, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's Director of the Bureau of Licensing, will be part of a panel discussion on gaming at the 48th Annual Meeting and Regional Policy Forum held by the Council of State Governments. The event will be held August 10-13, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The panel discussion will explore the economic benefits and challenges facing both state governments and operators during difficult economic times. Hensel will make a presentation on the status of slot gaming in Pennsylvania including the generation of tax revenues, job creation, and the impact of these businesses to good and services vendors.

The write up for the panel discussion reads: "Legalized Gaming has become an economic driver for many states, bringing jobs, capital construction and needed tax revenue. However, as gaming and competition expands and the economy and gas prices take a toll on discretionary income, demands are increasing for both state governments and operators. This panel, consisting of both state regulators and representatives of the gaming industry will explore the economic benefits and challenges facing gaming."

Hensel will be joined by Joseph A. Corbo, Jr., President, Casino Association of New Jersey, and Vice President and General Counsel, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa; Linda M. Kassekert, Chair, New Jersey Casino Control Commission; Ed Suttor, President & CEO, Dover Downs Hotel & Casino; Mr. George Henningsen, Chairman, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Gaming.

Since the opening of the first Pennsylvania slots casino in November 2006, legalized slots gaming has generated over $1.6 billion in revenues.  These funds are being used to provide general property tax relief to all Pennsylvania homeowners, more than double those eligible to receive rebates under the property tax and rent rebate program for seniors, reinvigorate the state's horse racing industry, and provide thousands of new living wage jobs.

In addition, the seven slot machine casinos currently in operation have injected over $96 million of new revenue into the budgets of the county and local governments that serve as hosts to these facilities. During the next year, two facilities that have received licensing are scheduled to open while two existing licensed facilities are slated to significantly expand.

Hensel, who was one of the first employees of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, was named to head the Bureau of Licensing in November 2005.

Hensel is also the currently the Executive Secretary of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). which is made up of twelve regulators from throughout the world, including Australia, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States.  Before joining the Gaming Board, Hensel worked on gaming implementation issues as a Special Assistant to then-Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Gregory C. Fajt. Before joining the Revenue Department, Hensel was an Assistant General Counsel in the Governor's Office of General Counsel; a Staff Attorney at the state Office of Inspector General; and Executive Assistant to the Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor & Industry. She was also a general assignment reporter at WHP-TV in Harrisburg and a news producer at WISN in Milwaukee. Hensel earned her J.D. degree from Widener University Law School in Harrisburg, where she graduated cum laude from the evening division and was on the staff of the Law Review. She earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

A complete biography for Hensel is available on the Gaming Control Board's web site at www.pgcb.state.pa.us under the About PGCB/Executive Staff tab.

Established in 1933, the Council of State Governments (CSG) is a non-partisan, public, non-profit organization that provides information, research, and training to state officials in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

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