BestCraps.com

Massachusetts Governor Wins 2nd Term, Pushes Expanded Gaming Bill Anew

Posted on November 6th, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

The governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick re-emphasized his commitment to creating more jobs for his constituents. He repeated this priority the morning of Thursday as his second term in office started, with his appeal to the legislature that they should do away with their rule just once and return to session before the year ends. The governor wants the legislature to convene for one last session so that the expanded gambling bill could finally be passed, which, if proponents are to be believed, would make thousands of jobs available to the residents. With that though, legislative leaders have not given any indication that they would still be convening with only a few weeks left for the year.

The governor’s main argument this time for pushing the issue is that if the expanded gambling bill will be tackled next year, more important issues may be swept to the side. Should the bill be tackled now, it and the other issues for next year would be given adequate attention. In a TV interview, Patrick said that his wish is for the Legislature to deal with the issue before the calendar year would close so that no more talk about it would be necessary by the next year. He further explained, “It sucks so much air out of Beacon Hill when there’s so much else to do. There’s a proposal before the Legislature right now that got sent back to them that would enact the three destination resorts that we all agree on and we can save our differences on other issues for another day.”

Formal sessions of the Legislature saw its last day 4 months ago, in July. The actions of the two camps, the Legislature’s and Patrick’s, were seen as more of retaliatory rather than conciliatory. Before the formal sessions ended, the Legislature disapproved of a bill by the governor which should have authorized three casinos and two slot machine licenses open for bidding to be available among the four racetracks of the state. A bit of getting back was allegedly done by the governor, as he returned a three casino proposal in early August. The Legislature did not favor the institution of “racinos” or horse racing tracks with slot machines, something that was included in the governor’s bill that they scraped. What became obvious was despite the “racino” concern, both camps are supporters of a gambling facility, which is seen as a generator of jobs and revenue. Meanwhile critics say that social problems that are connected to gambling will only be encouraged by the move, revenue not really staying in the state, but o be funneled to the accounts of the big casino operators and owners, which are usually based ion Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

The amendment that the governor made to the gambling bill is still pending before the House Committee on Bills in Third Reading. The chairman of the committee, Rep. Vincent Pedone (D-Worcester), claimed that there are currently no discussions on bringing the Legislature back. Pedone explained, “During my tenure here at the House we have come back to deal with serious issues that face the Commonwealth. I am not necessarily sure this falls into that category of dire need.” Howeverm he also says that if a majority of members of the Legislature will agree to a reconvening, they may debate on it. He adds, “We have to figure out as a Legislature whether or not this falls under a must return.” Patrick’s main issue during his first term was agreeing to raise a number of taxes. His opponents during the elections claim that he will just be raising taxes again when he gets a second term, which they claim stunts job creation. Despite that, he was reelected. Patrick argues, “That’s part of their scare tactics but I have no plans to do so and you won’t see any of that in the budget that we will file in January.” The governor is currently faced with a budget gap that is estimated to reach $2 billion, something that casinos may help fill.

Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert DeLeo confirmed that the speaker was in a meeting with the owner of former dog track Raynham Park, George Carney. He also admitted though that he gaming bill was not part of the discussions. Gitell claimed, “The Speaker has never spoken about the gaming bill with Carney.”