The New Hampshire Senate last week approved of two casinos bills that are unlikely to survive in the House. The vote was 15-9 after a short discussion.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Lou D’Allesandro, a longtime champion of gaming expansion in the state, has conceded that his bill doesn’t have much chance in the House. But, to sweeten the deal, he included a provision to share $25 million in state profits from the casino with local government. “The revenue sharing takes care of every citizen, every city and town in New Hampshire,” said the senator.
The Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling and Casino Free New Hampshire accused senators of trying to “buy” House support by putting the revenue sharing into the bill. The two chambers differ markedly on how to finance infrastructure improvements, secondary education and economic development, with the Senate supporting gaming and the House seeking higher taxes.
Senator Martha Fuller Clark, who opposed the bill, said that the revenue sharing proposal was a “false promise.” “Every time a bill comes before us it promises a different way to use the revenues,” she declared. She also fears that casinos would cannibalize existing businesses.
While denying that House members could be “bought,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Susan Almy told the Manchester Union Leader that some representatives, “feel they are not able to explain to their constituents why they passed up money.”
D’Allesandro, who has been pushing a casino in the state for 15 years, estimates that the state would collect more than $168 million in taxes from the casinos and the casinos themselves would realize profits of about $480 million.
The Senate bill authorizes two casinos with a total of 5,000 slots and 240 table games. A bill that authorized one casino with 5,000 slots died in the House last month on a vote of 173-144. Governor Maggie Hassan has lobbied strongly for a single casino, but not for more than that. She has said that she wants a “high-end, highly-regulated” casino. A spokesman last week reiterated Hassan’s desire for one casino only: “ The governor continues to believe that developing New Hampshire’s own plan for one highly regulated casino is the best course of action for investing in the priorities that are critical to long-term economic growth, and she encourages members of the House to take this opportunity to invest in New Hampshire’s needs, not Massachusetts’ needs.”
Gaming supporters argue that if the Granite State does not allow casino gambling that it will lose revenues to other states that have casinos, such as Massachusetts, which is currently approving licenses for three casino resorts and one slots parlor.
This is probably the last time in this legislative session that casino supporters will be able to vote on such a bill. The Senate bill would allow the two casinos to be located anywhere in the state. License fees for the larger casino, with 3,500 slots, would be $80 million. The smaller casino, with 1,500 slots, would pay a license fee of $40 million.
As an answer to those who fear that casinos will mushroom, the bill includes a ten-year moratorium on new ones. Nevertheless, one gaming opponent, Harold Janeway, declared, “No longer is proliferation a risk—we’ve got it. It’s built in and baked into the bill.”
The Senate bill also includes regulations that were in the unsuccessful House bill after receiving input from the Gaming Regulatory Oversight Authority, an ad hoc panel established solely for that purpose. Some opponents, such as Senator Russell Prescott, worry that the state will become too dependent on casino revenues, pointing to nearby Delaware, where casino revenues are down.
Most surveys show that voters in the state favor some sort of casino expansion. Last year a survey conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, showed support at 59 percent yes, 33 percent, no. Critics countered that surveys can be worded to garner support for almost any position.
Casino opponent Steve Duprey said, “I can guarantee you, having spent a few years around politics, if I word the question right I can make you like the devil reincarnate.”
