Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf announced on Tuesday that, starting Memorial Day 14 state commercial casinos may be operating at 100% Capacity. However, local governments can still impose restrictions on these properties and of course these properties are free to implement whatever measures they deem necessary.
"At 12:01 am ET on Monday May 31, casino floors will no longer be subject to capacity restrictions," Wolf said in a statement.
Wolf's state-wide mandate for face masks will remain in place, as will the temporary ban on smoking indoors. Wolf has been one of the strictest governors when it comes to restrictions on the gambling industry. He closed casinos in his state not once, but twice after he forced them to close for three weeks last December.
It wasn't until April 4 that it eased the restrictions and allowed the 75% to run with performance.
Wolf's announcement came the day after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he would lift bandwidth restrictions for Atlantic City Casinos from May 19.
"It's time to take serious steps to reopen our economy and loosen both indoors and out," Murphy said in a statement.
In addition to allowing full capacity, Murphy also said that from May 7, bar seating and casino buffets would be allowed again. Like his neighboring Pennsylvania governor, the mandate for the Murphy mask will remain in place and the social distancing guidelines will continue to apply.
According to the report Philadelphia Inquirer, Murphy links reopening to vaccination rates. About half of the state's population are fully vaccinated, but Murphy has set a goal of getting 70% vaccinated by June.
Like Wolf, Murphy has imposed some of the strictest blocking restrictions on his condition. After the desktop casino market closed in mid-March last year, it did not allow casinos to re-open until July at 25% capacity. It also banned catering services in its Atlantic City buildings, but finally dropped the ban last November.
He did not ease these restrictions until mid-March this year when he allowed casinos to operate with 50% capacity.