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Senator Renews Push For Video Slots In NH
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Senator Renews Push For Video Slots In NH
NORMA LOVE, Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ―
Senate Finance Chairman Lou D’Allesandro has tried unsuccessfully a dozen times in as many years to get reluctant New Hampshire lawmakers to expand gambling.
He’s betting his odds are of success are better this year because the economy is in the doldrums and state and local governments need money to plug budget holes — money he says could be generated by legalizing video slots.
“We’ve never been this desperate,” said D’Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat.
D’Allesandro’s latest bill would allow construction of one golf resort and convention center on the Massachusetts border — a plan tailored for a proposed $300 million project at Green Meadow Golf Club in Hudson. It also would allow slots at race tracks in Salem, Seabrook and Belmont and at two undesignated sites in the North Country, possibly in Lincoln and Berlin. Operators would have to get approval from the municipalities before winning a license.
If the six licensed the maximum machines, New Hampshire would have 17,000 video slots. The bill also allows table games for an additional licensing fee.
State Rep. Gene Chandler, a Bartlett Republican and former House speaker, opposes expanding gambling and hopes D’Allesandro’s bill loses again, but knows the times are uncertain.
“You try to strike when the iron’s hot,” Chandler said. “It’s probably the best chance.”
Last year, the Senate tabled a different gambling bill — and the issue appeared dead after the House killed two other gambling bills.
But D’Allesandro, as budget chairman, won the Senate’s support to add his bill to the budget package passed to the House near the end of the session. It was later stripped out of the compromise voted into law.
Last year, D’Allesandro included two northern New Hampshire sites and the three race tracks — including a proposed project at Rockingham Park race track in Salem — but left out the Green Meadow project. He included Green Meadow this year to gain support.
The Rockingham Park project is being pushed by Millennium Gaming Inc. of Las Vegas, which says it will invest $450 million to overhaul the park if the state allows it to install 5,000 video slot machines. Millennium said 1,000 permanent jobs would be created by the project if just slots were involved.
Former state Sen. Bob Clegg, a Hudson Republican who is lobbying for Green Meadow, said the resort’s construction would create 2,000 jobs.
Gov. John Lynch has in the past said he would have to be persuaded New Hampshire’s quality of life would not be affected before he could support expanding gambling. A committee appointed by Lynch to study gambling will issue a final report until late spring.
Former state Sen. Jim Rubens, chairman of Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling, faulted the bill for dropping the state’s share of the winnings from 49 percent in last year’s bill to 39 percent in this year’s measure — something D’Allesandro did to attract investors who might get better deals from other states.
Chandler said he doesn’t want to sound “high and mighty with a holy attitude,” but he doesn’t believe gambling’s ills and the impact on New Hampshire’s image as a family friendly state are worth the money — however much it is.
Supporters counter that gambling is a draw for tourists and is preferable to raising taxes to fill budget holes.
As the bill stands, 30 percent of net video slot income would go to the state. The remaining state share would go to host towns, towns next to them, the 10 counties, gambling addiction treatment, tourism promotion, purses for live racing, commuter rail operations between Nashua and Boston and for police, fire and emergency medical training programs.
Initial license fees to operators range from $10 million at the northern New Hampshire sites to $50 million at Rockingham and Green Meadow. Operators adding table games to the mix would pay a one-time $10 million fee. New Hampshire could get $220 million if it licensed the six sites, including for table games.
D’Allesandro has a reputation as a political dealmaker and acknowledges he keeps rewriting the bill to fit the times, but he insists it will benefit New Hampshire by providing jobs and revenue — $125 million annually just to the state in the early years with more as slot machines are added. The bill will come to his committee for a hearing, probably in March
He’s counting votes in the Senate now and feels good about his chances, but adds: “You never know until the votes are cast.”
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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