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Expanded Gambling Bill amendments reach over 150

Posted on June 25th, 2010

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The Expanded Gambling Bill is due for senate floor debate starting Wednesday. The bill, proposing the legal construction Massachusetts’ 3 additional casinos, is now subject to over 150 amendments from both sides of the senate, those who are going for the bill and those in opposition. The said bill has been subject to numerous criticisms from concerned groups questioning the social effects of the proposal to the state’s people.

Amendments to the bill were said to focus on allocating a portion of the casino’s earnings to fund different causes such as the creation of the Massachusetts Gambling Research Institute dedicated to studying the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology factors of gambling in casinos. Some other causes that the bill will benefit includes funding of the preservation of historical building and aid in property tax for locals.

Key amendment mentioned includes the ban for alcohol that is offered for free for players of the casinos. This is proposed by opposing senators saying that these free items serve as benefits to casino players, enticing more to engage in gambling that may eventually result to financial problems. Some more amendments states the legalization of slot machines in four tracks, in 2 horse tracks and 2 previous dog tracks in addition to the proposed casinos.

Senator James Eldridge, one of the 5 senators opposing the expanded gambling bill proposed the said amendments to toning down the bad effects of more casinos in the State. “I believe it is our duty as legislators to care about more than just profits for casinos and also to make a bad bill a little less bad” the statesmen said.

Senate President Therese Murray, who spearheads the pushing of the expanded gambling bill, says the bill will result in Massachusetts having 3 full-scale casinos. These casinos are allowed a smoking area equal to a quarter of the total floor space, which is in direct contradiction to the smoking ban in workplaces in the state. The estimated revenue out of these casinos will amount to as $460 million and the addition of 2 other casinos will mean capturing about $1 billion in lost revenues by locals going out of state just to play. These projections will tremendously help in the repeated budget deficit problems of the state. Additional job creation is another plus that these casinos will bring in. Senator Stanley Rosenberg, another front runner among advocates of the gambling bill says that the bill is gaining favor “because people are convinced that this money exiting the state could be kept here, and we could create some jobs and some state revenue”.

On the other side of the spectrum, opposing senators would rather make slight changes to the bill, since there is a strong force behind it and may not be defeated. These senators say the construction of the additional casinos will negatively affect other local businesses and may pose potential danger by means of heightened drug use and crimes, and other incidents mostly related to casinos. Bankruptcy and gambling addiction are some of the other personal effects that opposing senators are worried about in relation to expanded gambling.

Another democrat senator, Susan Fargo, who helped pass the anti smoking law in workplaces six years ago is also applying the same principle to the proposed bill. She said it is rather “bizaare” for the state to allow smoking in the casinos in a state where a smoking ban exists among workplaces. The senator is also one of those opposing against free alcohol beverages in casinos.

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts supports the establishment of the casinos but are opposing the inclusion of slot machines in tracks. “I think there is a way to strike that balance and to do it responsibly and also to generate more jobs.’’ said the governor. The Senate and House will still need to come up with a common ground with the amendments before Patrick signs the bill, which he hopes to do before legislative sessions ends by the end of July.