Now that the New Hampshire Senate has narrowly passed a bill that would authorize two casinos in the Granite State, the bill faces an uncertain future in the House, which has historically been a graveyard for such bills.
SB 242 was authored by longtime casino champion Senator Lou D’Allesandro. The Senate approved it by 13-10. A similar bill passed the Senate in 2014 only to be killed in the House by one vote: 173-172.
The senator is optimistic that he can beat that record this year. At a press conference D’Allesandro declared, “While New Hampshire has done nothing, surrounding states now have gaming entities. They advertise on our TV stations and we send buses of New Hampshire residents to those other states to gamble. It’s time for New Hampshire to do something. No state that has done this has crumbled.”
His bill borrows freely from the 2011 law that Massachusetts passed that opened it up to casino gaming. For example, a host town would be able to decide if it wanted a casino, and could make a charter with the developer. The public would be allowed to vote on the matter—and the vote would be binding.
It would create two categories of casino licenses. Category 1 would cost $80 million and would authorize as many as 3,500 slots and 160 tables for ten years. A Category 2 license would also be for ten years, but would allow as many as 1,500 slots and 80 tables.
