House hammers away on bid for Mass. casinos, slots

By Matt Murphy, mmurphy@lowellsun.com

Updated: 04/14/2010 06:35:57 AM EDT

BOSTON — The House of Representatives began debate yesterday on a bill that would legalize resort casinos and slot machines in Massachusetts, betting double-or-nothing on a plan that would dramatically expand gambling in the state after a similar proposal from Gov. Deval Patrick was defeated two years ago.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo filed the bill that would allow for two resort-style casinos and 750 slot machines at each of the state’s four racetracks, two of which are located in his district. DeLeo is hoping to secure a veto-proof majority — 106 votes — in the House before the law goes to the Senate.

Patrick opposes slots at the racetracks, but has stopped short of threatening a veto.

“We need to have the product here in Massachusetts that’s going to be competitive with Connecticut and Rhode Island,” said Rep. Brian Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat and chairman of the Committee on Economic Development. Dempsey said the House plan would help the state recoup as much as half of the gambling revenue being lost to Connecticut and Rhode Island gaming venues.

House lawmakers debated the 172-page bill for about 11 hours yesterday before adjourning to resume the debate this afternoon when a final vote is expected. If approved, the bill would mark the first step toward the largest expansion of gambling in the state since 1971, when the Legislature started the Lottery.

The bill requires a $500 million private investment from each of the resort casinos and $75 million from each of the racetracks. The state would receive $260 million in upfront licensing fees, and House leaders estimate the gambling venues would generate $300 million to $500 million in annual tax revenue.

After a lopsided vote in 2008 to kill Patrick’s plan for three resort casinos under then-Speaker Sal DiMasi, lawmakers have justified a switch in their position by pointing to the down economy and the need to create jobs.

The bill is projected to generate between 15,000 and 19,000 construction and full-time casino jobs. With the exception of Rep. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, every member of the Greater Lowell delegation has indicated they will likely support the final bill.

Local lawmakers, however, were still working to craft a compromise on how best to protect local performing-arts centers from losing acts and business to resort casinos.

Early in the day, legislators defeated a motion to send the bill back to committee so that a public hearing on DeLeo’s proposal could be held.

DeLeo has said a hearing is not necessary because of the public vetting casinos have already received after Patrick first proposed licensing three resort casinos in 2007. The House also voted against requiring at least one casino to be located in western Massachusetts.

Lawmakers also rebuffed an attempt by Republican House members to open the four slot licenses for competitive bidding instead of awarding them to the state’s four racetracks.

Rep. Stephen DiNatale, D-Fitchburg, spoke out against competitive bidding, defending the decision to locate slots at the racetracks. He said boosting the racetracks would help foster a racehorse breeding industry that could create up to 1,300 new jobs.

“Massachusetts has all the necessary ingredients for the breeding industry to grow. All that is missing is purses and breeder awards that exist in other states,” said DiNatale, noting the presence of Marshall Farm in his district where thoroughbred horses are raised.

Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, succeeded in getting two of her four amendments passed, including a close vote that would allow individuals with a gambling addiction to put themselves on a “do not contact” list prohibiting casinos from marketing to them.

“Say you’re addicted to alcohol. You certainly don’t want to get fliers at your house notifying you of the latest Budweiser sales,” Atkins said. “I think we should honor their concerns and their wishes so they have a fighting chance if they are addicted and don’t want marketing from casinos.”

The measure passed, 79-73.

Atkins also succeeded in requiring casinos to conduct frequent sweeps of casino parking lots for children who might have been left in vehicles while their guardians gamble. Any discovery of a child in a car must be reported to law enforcement.

But the House voted down the Concord Democrat’s amendment to ban casinos from hiding clocks and putting additives and excess oxygen in the air supply to keep people awake and make them feel unnaturally upbeat.

“If you feel like a million bucks, you don’t mind betting a million bucks,” Atkins said. “Everything is geared so the House will win and we will lose. We need to protect the public.”

Dempsey, the author of the bill, cautioned lawmakers against “micro-managing” gambling venues before bids for licenses are submitted.

Rep. Robert Rice, D-Gardner, pushed unsuccessfully to allow local nonprofits to apply to local boards for a license to operate up to four slot machines. Rice said these nonprofits are often the same organizations that fund high-school scholarships and support local youth athletics.

The debate, at times, took on a hyperbolic tone as anti-casino lawmakers warned of the dangers that casinos pose to the communities in which they are located.

Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, noted that one in five “pathological gamblers” attempt suicide and areas surrounding casinos experience higher rates of homelessness and domestic violence.

“We are literally discussing who shall live and who shall die,” Balser said. She also argued unsuccessfully for a gambler’s “bill of rights” that would have limited a patron’s losses to no more $500 a day and required a public-health official to intervene if someone gambled more than 12 hours.

The AFL-CIO made it clear to lawmakers before debate began yesterday that a vote for gambling was a vote for labor. The influential union said the votes on DeLeo’s proposal would be used to calculate a lawmaker’s pro-labor voting record and considered when the group discusses endorsements in this year’s election.

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