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Massachusetts Bill on Casinos Still to be Deliberated

Posted on April 22nd, 2011

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Massachusetts has been exerting great efforts to boost the revenues of its racing industry. Considered to be a dying industry in the Bay State, the said industry has been trying to exhaust its efforts in order to keep the industry afloat amidst the trials it is currently facing. However, it can only do so much. For years, the industry has been attempting to lobby for changes in the State’s legislation concerning additional legalized gambling, specifically the establishment of casinos, with high hopes of providing the industry opportunities to boost its earnings and giving back to the community through employment openings.

Currently, gambling on horse and dog races still takes place in the state. However, these bets must not exceed $5. With an increase in gambling expansion policies adopted by most states, the racing industry has been hit hard, not to mention the state itself. In response to this, legislators have come up with a bill that legalizes casino establishments in the area. Specifically, the bill allowed 3 resort-style casino establishments and slot machines within the chosen 2 racing venues.

Unfortunately, the quest for expanded in Massachusetts is not an easy task. The three most powerful officials the State, namely Senate President Therese Murray, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Governor Deval Patrick, have different opinions regarding the issue at hand. While the Senate President and the House Speaker both believe that legal casinos will benefit the State, the Governor believes otherwise. He claims putting up casinos in Massachusetts will only add to the current saturation of gambling sites both inside and outside the State, and likewise cause negative effects to the social values of the people in Massachusetts. Moreover, the Governor has explicitly expressed his disdain against slot machines, commonly known as “slots” among its fanatics.

This disagreement has led to the disapproval of the bill. When the bill arrived at the Governor’s office, he refused to sign it and vetoed most of its provisions, most especially those which allowed slot machines to be found in racing enterprises. The Governor was supportive of the casino establishments, but was rigid on his stand against “racinos”, a combination of a racetrack and a casino in one venue. Furthermore, he declared gaming is not a priority in his administration’s strategies for boosting the State’s economic growth. However, legislators seem determined to legalize more forms of gambling in the state of Massachusetts. A hearing, exploring the initiation of new methods of gambling, is in place. Come May 4, 2011, Massachusetts legislators are due to meet in State House’s Gardner Auditorium to discuss expanded gambling bills, 13 of which have already been formally filed. Hopefully, they will be able to draft a proposal and pass it into becoming a law which will benefit the State of Massachusetts.

Despite an unclear outlook regarding the issue on expanded legal gambling, Suffolk Downs, a popular racetrack in Boston run by the Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC, has forged a partnership with Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the world’s largest company engaging in the casino business venture. According to reports, a $600 million gaming and entertainment complex is due to be built on the Suffolk Downs property. This world-class resort-casino would then be luxuriously fashioned, together with hundreds of hotel rooms, spas and boutiques. This development would attract gambling fanatics all over the State and even beyond its borders creating millions of revenues should the venture be successful. Likewise, the State of Massachusetts will surely benefit from the tax revenues generated from each player’s winnings. As for the people of Massachusetts, the mere construction of this grand plan would require an estimate of 2,000 jobs and, upon its operation, would employ over 2,000 people from all over Massachusetts.

The US has been deep in the expanded gambling frenzy. The States of Nevada, Iowa, Massachusetts, Hawaii and more have been pushing for expanded gambling in their respective jurisdictions. In light of the recent progress most states have had with the measure, a straightforward opinion presented by a proponent of expanded gambling highlighted the group’s main contention: that the citizens of Massachusetts travel to casinos outside the State and waste money that should have been spent within the state, only if it had its own casinos.