HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania House of Representatives rushed Wednesday night toward a vote on sprawling gambling legislation unveiled just hours earlier to expand casino-style gambling to the internet, airports, bars and elsewhere.

The bill was marshaled by Republican majority leaders toward the floor vote, a last-ditch move to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from taxes and license fees to help prop up, if temporarily, Pennsylvania's deficit-riddled finances. The bill represents perhaps Pennsylvania's biggest gambling expansion since it legalized casinos in 2004, a move that has made it the nation's No. 2 commercial casino revenue state.House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said the vote was an important step before budget negotiations heat up this month. It was not clear whether it would garner support from the Republican-controlled state Senate or Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. But Reed said that there is little support in the House for the alternative, a tax increase, if the gambling bill was to fail.Early efforts to postpone a vote Wednesday night failed, and the debate became heated at one point over whether the bill would allow gambling in nursing homes. A supporter, Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, said that was not true.Opponents complained during floor debate that they had barely had a chance to read the bill or ask questions about provisions that could allow gambling at thousands of bars. House Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman Scott Petri, R-Bucks, opposed it too, saying the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the Pennsylvania State Police had not had a chance to give input on the regulatory scheme envisioned by the bill for new license applicants."We're trying to jam something through quickly and we're trying to get it in under cover of night," Petri told colleagues in floor debate.Opponents also argued that widespread gambling in bars would cannibalize the money for schools that is fed by casino gambling revenue and the money for programs for the elderly that is supplied by lottery play.Similar legislation failed in the House last summer.Under the bill, a liquor license holder, such as a bar, truck stop, bowling alley, VFW hall or fraternal club, could operate slot machine-style gambling machines, called video gaming terminals. As many as 40,000 terminals would be allowed statewide, with a limit of five at each establishment, 10 at truck stops. Supporters estimated that 7,000 to 8,000 bars and other establishments could be expected to host a terminal, with tax revenue going to the state, the lottery, the establishment and local governments.Rep. Ed Neilsen, D-Philadelphia, warned that gambling would start up at bars right across the street from churches, day care centers and schools.Most casinos opposed that provision, but largely backed other elements that would let them create an internet portal to bring their games to online audiences, including online gambling parlors at airports, and place slot machines at a couple dozen off-track betting parlors around the state.The Pennsylvania Lottery also would be able to bring its games online, making Pennsylvania the first state to allow both casino and lottery games online. A separate provision would seek to reinstate a requirement, struck down last year by the state Supreme Court, that casinos pay millions of dollars annually to their host communities.