Massachusetts House Responds

It has been almost six months since the Senate approved the bill that permits Massachusetts racing venues to offer slot machines.  Now, and not a moment too soon, the House is finally ready to vote on the Legislation. 

The Massachusetts House of Representatives set April 5th as the date to hold their debates.  The vote has been delayed by Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi ever since the slots bill was passed by the Senate.  Representative David Flynn of Bridgewater (D) supports slot machines in Massachusetts.  According to Flynn, “If the speaker stays neutral, we’ll have enough votes to win in the House by a slim margin.”  Though hopeful, Flynn acknowledges the difficulty of collecting the 2/3 majority necessary to overturn the veto promised by Governor Mitt Romney. 

The fear of those opposing the slot machine bill is that it will set Massachusetts on the road toward full casinos and a growth in problem gamblers.  Supports of the bill believe slot machines will not only save jobs, but keep recreational dollars spent on gambling in the state. 

The owner of Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park, George Carney, says his track will reflect such positive expectations.  He says slot machines will create 500 new jobs at his track alone.  He also believes Massachusetts will be able to steal back some of its business from Rhode Island’s Lincoln Greyhound Park by offering the same recreation to Massachusetts gamblers in the convenience of their own state.  Lincoln Greyhound Park installed slot machines in 1992.    

Neighboring states like Connecticut and Rhode Island take much of Massachusetts' gambling business. The study released last week by the University of Masschusetts-Dartmouth claims that Connecticut casinos and Rhode Island slot machines parlors profited by more than $1 billion dollars last year on revenue that could have gone to a Massachusetts gambling venue.

The Senate bill permits four slot machine licenses, each one to be distributed to Suffolk Downs, Plainridge Racecourse, Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park, and Wonderland.  Each venue will be allowed 2,000 slot machines.   The bill was co-sponsored by state Senator Marc Pacheco of Taunton (D). 

The projected revenue figures are enticingly in favor of the bill.  Slot machine revenues could produce $400 to $500 million dollars annually for the state coffers.  Taunton could collect as much as $500,000 a year.  Raynham would look forward to about $1 million annually. 

The Senate bill divided slot machine revenue collection into percentages.  If the bill’s prescription is obeyed, 60% of profits would go to the state, 25.5% would be retained by track owners, and the last 14.5% would be used by local law enforcement to aid in the fight against problem gambling.  

There are many bill contestants pointing out the struggling, some say dying, racing industry.  Representative Flynn’s argues, “I feel strongly that the only thing killing the racing industry is the state legislature.”

Massachusetts race tracks have another personal concern in Wednesday’s meeting.  The House will vote on whether to approve a one month extension of the racetrack simulcasting agreement.  Simulcasting permits racing venues to broadcast races form other tracks.  The extant agreement expires this coming Friday.

The final agreement for simulcasting is expected to be settled by April 10, 2006.  The one month extension allots the racetracks time to organize the final compromise.

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