A proposal in the legislature of Puerto Rico to legalize slot machines outside of the casinos is being criticized by the spokesman for the tourism and hotel association.
Pablo Torres, president of the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association (PRHTA), held a press conference last week during which he blasted the government plan to legalize non-casino slots, a proposal meant to bring revenue in from illegal machines that are already operating in bars and taverns on the island.
Torres claimed the proposal, which would legalize an estimated 30,000 machines outside of casinos, would lead to losses by established casinos of more than $149 million, and decried the haste with which the proposal is being pushed through by lawmakers.
“The lack of a serious and public evaluation of the proposal to legalize slots through public hearings has led the legislative leaders and the executive to propose many noble causes for the alleged funds that it would produce while ignoring the adverse fiscal impact that, according to a study by the government itself, it would have,” Torres said.
He also criticized the proposed use of revenues from the newly legal games for a police retirement fund. “Our men and women of the police deserve a decent and safe withdrawal based on a source of reliable income and not on a bet on a measure that nobody has been able to see, evaluate, or validate in economic and fiscal terms,” he said.
“All these noble causes are offered ignoring the multimillion-dollar losses that it would have on the coffers of the government and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), according to studies of the government itself. It would be taking money out of a place to use it elsewhere.”
Opponents of the new proposals quoted the findings of a study carried out by research company Spectrum Gaming which revealed that should 30,000 slot machines be permitted to operate legally, it would decrease casino revenue by between $149 million and $159 million, which would translated into a loss for UPR, the largest public university on the island, of $35.4 million per year.
Proponents of legalization cite estimates that the number of illegal slot machines already operating on the island approaches 40,000 by some estimates, generating as much as $1.5 billion in untaxed revenue.
