Massachusetts casinos far from reality

Massachusetts casinos far from reality The Massachusetts casinos proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick are far from reality, after House vote killed the proposed bill for three casinos in the state on Thursday. The bill would have created three casinos in the state of Massachusetts, as well as make online gambling explicitly illegal in the state. But the main man behind the bill, Governor Deval Patrick, was quickly shut down by the representative of the opposing force, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi. The proposed casino bill was overwhelmingly killed by the Representatives and Patrick needs to flip 32 of them to his side in order to get the proposition moving again. And even though negotiations between Patrick and DiMasi continue, "I think as long as Sal DiMasi is there you won't hear about it again. He probably won't even take the ballot question up. He'll say, 'It's already done. We're not doing it again,' " Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) was quoted in the media.

According to a new study published in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at Connecticut casinos and Rhode Island slot parlors last year, generating more than $233 million in tax revenues for those states. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found that Bay State citizens spent $846 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and $195 million at Twin River and Newport Grand in Rhode Island in 2007.

Published on 03/24/2008