Massachusetts Casino Gambling

Massachusetts lawmakers passed a casino gambling bill, but the bill remains at an impasse. Governor Deval Patrick says it is not in a format that he can support. Patrick was against having slots in all the racetracks and amended the bill to take out the slot parlors and include just three casino resorts.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo is in support of two racinos. A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette.

A strong majority in both the House and the Senate passed a version that has two slot parlors at racetracks in it. But the Governor says he cannot support that. “Make no mistake about this,” Speaker of the House DeLeo said. “Anything short of Governor Patrick signing this bill represents a decision to kill 15,000 new jobs and bring immediate local aid to our cities and towns.” DeLeo proposed that each track have 750 slot machines “so as not to interfere with the bigger prize, the bigger prize being casino gambling”.

Each casino would be required to make a capital investment of at least $500 million and each track would be mandated to invest $75 million. If the House approves the bill, it would go to the Senate. Under the bill, a five-member Massachusetts Gaming Commission would award the two licenses for casinos and oversee expanded gaming. Enforcement units would be created in the attorney general's office along with the State Police.

Governor Deval Patrick indicated that the door remains open to casino gambling in Massachusetts but that slot machines at race tracks were still a major point of contention with House Speaker Robert DeLeo. A dozen mayors are urging Governor Patrick and legislative

leaders to reach an agreement on casino gambling and he has recently indicated that he is open to further casino talks but that slot parlors remain