This late in the legislative calendar it is unlikely the Massachusetts legislature will take up legalizing online gaming in 2017, Stan Rosenberg, president of the Senate, said last week. Although an online lottery was on a separate track, it too will probably have to wait for next year.
In an interview with Casino Guardian, Rosenberg said that lawmakers are approaching both issues carefully in order to 1) not harm the brick and mortar casinos the legislature has already authorized, and 2) not to harm the existing lottery.
Massachusetts already has one casino that has been operating for nearly two years, Plainridge Park, in Plainville. Two more, the Wynn Boston Harbor and the MGM Springfield, are under construction, with opening dates planed for 2019 and 2018 respectively.
Rosenberg said he and his colleagues were uncertain how to allow for online gaming without hurting the infant casino industry in the Bay State. He predicted some action on a bill next year.
Later in the week, in an interview on Boston Herald Radio, the Senate leader said, “Online lottery and online gaming are both issues that are being reviewed now to try to figure out how we manage the situation so we don’t hurt the lottery,” adding “and in the case of online gaming, that we don’t hurt the casino industry we’re building in Massachusetts.”
He concluded, “We could potentially act next year, potentially.”
Earlier this year, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr introduced legislation to legalize online gaming, but his bill was not passed. The most recent bill, SD.618, would legalize online gaming, but leaves the details, such as licensing, taxation and regulations, to be inserted later.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who has been calling for the modernization of the state lottery for several years, was disappointed at the lack of action on her request, and said the state will lose millions in additional lottery revenue as a result.
On April 25 Goldberg said, “My feeling is we have an opportunity, and sometimes it takes others longer to figure out what that opportunity is. I just hope that opportunity doesn’t get blocked and we’re boxed out by other competition, and I think that’s the issue.”
Three days later at a hearing before lawmakers, Lottery Commissioner Anthony Salvidio asked, “What is it going to take for legislators to realize this, a complete collapse of the revenue of the Lottery before they get on this?”
Ultimately, lawmakers are waiting to hear the recommendations of the Commission on Online Gambling, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports, an ad hoc commission that was created last year to study online gaming—minus the lottery—and recommend what course to take. It includes the chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Stephen Crosby, several legislators and industry representatives. It is due to make a report in July. That will probably be too late for the two houses to act on it this year however.
New York state lawmakers, who are also studying the issue, have had similar concerns about hurting existing casinos, of which three of an anticipated four have opened, with a final one set to open in 2018. However, unlike the Bay State, New York’s Senate is considering an online poker bill.
