CasinoWatch

Gambling debate turns to slots; Let smokers balance the Bay State budget

Casino gambling debate turns to tribe, slot machines

The Tribe was willing
Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council had indicated a willingness to bid on one of the state’s three casino licenses, especially since Patrick put his thumb on the scale by drafting the legislation to say one of the licenses had to go to an applicant with "a Native American component." But the Wampanoags also knew the plan could succumb to Beacon Hill politics, so they decided last summer to simultaneously forge ahead with federal approval for their casino.
   Over the next six months, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will review the tribe’s application to put the Middleborough land in a federal trust. If the Department of Interior does so, the tribe would be free to build a casino on its sovereign territory - but without the revenue-sharing plan included in Patrick’s proposal.When the House voted to kill Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan to license three casinos in Massachusetts, it did not end the gambling debate in the state. It merely refocused it in other arenas.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe continues to plod through the federal process to build its own casino in Middleborough. And the deal that killed the Patrick plan in the House included a promise to let members debate a proposal to place slot machines at the state’s four racetracks.

The issue is whether those proposals will have less regulation and taxpayer benefit than Patrick’s casino plan, and more in the way of social ills.

Patrick insists that when he sat down last year to consider casino gambling in Massachusetts, he expected to end up opposing it. Over time and through study, though, he came to believe it was inevitable in the state. After all, 38 states have casino gambling of some sort.

The governor concluded the best course was to legalize casinos in Massachusetts in a way that tried to minimize the potential problems while maximizing the potential returns...  Herald.  
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Lawmakers figure how to close the budget gap without casinos

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is lobbying the federal government for permission to build a $1 billion resort casino in Middleborough, which would bring gambling to Massachusetts without any state government regulation.Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to build three resort casinos in Massachusetts to boost state revenues was shut down on the House floor last week, effectively killing the bill until next January, with the state facing a $1.3 billion spending gap.

Massachusetts lawmakers must now find alternate revenue-boosting methods in the face of a "gloomy economic forecast," said Victoria Bonney, spokeswoman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi. Patrick said the proposed legislation would raise $124 million in casino licensing fees to help balance the state's budget, but now legislators must look elsewhere for the money.

In lieu of the casino plan, DiMasi, a Boston Democrat, has proposed a $1 tax increase on cigarette packs, which he said will raise $152 million in revenue...  Daily Free Press.