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Rhode Island Governor vetoes expanded gambling

Posted on June 26th, 2010

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Rhode island Governor, Donald Carcieri has recently canceled the proposal to make Twin River and Newport Grand Casinos into complete and full scale casinos. This move will be voted upon this coming November for an official stand. The governor released this decision as his office is contesting the true benefits that this 2 casino projects will bring in to the state. Carcieri expressed his concern on the projects as some important specifications have not been made clear, such as what the state will earn from the new games that will be offered to the public like roulette and blackjack, as well as the lack of consideration to licensing fees. “It is unreasonable to ask Rhode Islanders to vote on these questions and to approve or reject the attendant expansion of gambling when the impact on the state’s finances and budget cannot be determined” said the governor.

Carcieri later explained that the main purpose of the said projects were the revenue potentials, but were not discussed. The governor further explained that he cannot support a cause that does not clearly define the benefit it will bring to the people and the state. Patti Doyle, Spokeswoman of Twin River defended the casino saying that the proposal started out as a plan to put up a good competition to rival Massachusetts’ plan of building it’s own casinos “ so long as we we’re given the necessary tools to do so.” But with the said veto, Doyle believes Twin Rivers cannot compete. She continued to say that she hopes lawmakers on the issue will reconsider, as Twin Rivers’ revenues will soon decline due to tougher competition from neighboring states. The House and Senate can make efforts to override Carcieri’s move but are unsure if enough votes can be cast to do so. To override this the senate would need about 3/5 of total votes, but with strong opposing forces, this is not yet certain.

Steven Constantino, House finance chairman expressed his concern on the matter stating that there may be massive loss of earnings in Rhode Island in the event Massachusetts finishes the casino projects they will be having. Currently, Newport Grand and Twin River are estimated to contribute only $291.9 million in earnings to the state. Gambling Machines are the only highlights of the said casinos. Doyle also defended Twin Rivers saying that there had been no request for a cost benefit analysis from the state or the governor’s office, this is why they did not make such proposals but “we were and remain willing to do so” said the spokeswoman.

Twin river also released a study projecting loses of $100 million if the state will not make efforts to compete with Massachusetts’ upcoming casino establishments. It has been said that about 40% of Twin River clients are from Massachusetts, these people will ultimately mean lost business as soon as rival casinos in Massachusetts are done. Estimated numbers are around $97 million said to be lost from the state and over $2 million from Lincoln alone. These loses are said to be solved if additional table games will be includes in casinos like Twin Rivers and Newport Grand.

Massachusetts is set to construct 3 full-blown casinos with smoking areas to 25 percent of the whole floor space. This comes in contradiction to the statewide ban of smoking in workplaces already in place in the state. Allowing smoking in casinos will entail the same on bars and restaurants, and eventually in all workplaces. This may harm casino goers as they may opt to go to casinos that allow smoking anywhere on the casino.