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NH Senate To Take Up New Video Slots Bill

Posted on May 12th, 2010

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The New Hampshire Senate will introduce a revised and downsized version of a video slots bill whose forerunner was rejected by the House after it passed the Senate earlier this year. The bill, sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, was previously turned down by the House because critics said, besides having problems with regulations, it called for too many machines and too many venues which were pre-chosen by the state. The initial proposal allowed a maximum of 17,000 video slot machines at six locations across the state. The sites included a horse track in Salem, dog tracks in Belmont and Seabrook, a golf course in Hudson and two unnamed sites in northern New Hampshire.

D’Allesandro made alterations to his new bill and reduced the number of slot machines to 10,000 and the casino sites to four, which would now be chosen by the State Lottery Commission and the licenses would be issued on the basis of the applications. The Senator said anyone can apply under the new measure. The commission could award two licenses that allow 3,500 slot machines at $50 million each, another license allowing 2,000 slot machines at $30 million and one more license that would allow 1,000 machines at $15 million. The winning casino operator could add a maximum of 150 table games by paying an additional $10 million license.

The Lottery Commission will be in charge of regulating the slot machines, and the Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission which is already overseeing table games run by charities will be in charge of the table games in casinos. D’Allesandro said the state could receive up to $80 million in license fees this year if things could be swiftly set in motion. “We think there is a possibility of a temporary facility being up within the next six months so we could begin to see some kind of cash flow by the end of the calendar year,” he said. He estimates annual revenue from the four venues to be roughly $100 million. Gov. John Lynch has submitted to lawmakers his plan to fix a $220 million shortfall and was amended by the House Finance Committee which proposed some measures to narrow the budget gap that involve tax increases, cuts in spending and debt restructuring. The House votes on the bill Wednesday.

Many senators, however, are opposed to the cuts, and believe that gambling revenue could avert them. “We’ve got to stay with the Senate’s position,” said D’Allesandro, who is confident of the 13 votes needed in the Senate to pass his bill this week. House Finance Chairwoman Marjorie Smith. D-Durham said the House stand is just as clear, that is, it has remained opposed to video slots because “it is not a reliable revenue source for the state,” she said.