Mired neck-deep in the Probation Dept. scandal, Massachusetts House Speaker "Racino" DeLeo has embarked on a statewide campaign to deflect attention from "Patronage as usual" to his flawed Slot Barn proposal.
His zeal is suspect.
His zeal is suspect.
Few would be surprised if the current Speaker followed the long line of indicted predecessors.
Below is a SHNS article about SB 339 calling for an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS.
Beacon Hill has frittered away taxpayers' hard-earned dollars on phony reports that extol the wildly exaggerated revenue and job creation numbers, beginning with the Governor spending $189,000 for the first Spectrum Gaming report.
None of those reports considered the costs and impacts that will be imposed on communities and regions. Those costs will be substantial.
The Massachusetts Lottery provides more revenue to Massachusetts cities and towns than 256 Nevada Casinos.
Here:
Massachusetts Lottery earns more than Nevada's 256 Casinos
Massachusetts Lottery Revenues:
2008 $913 million
2009 $859 million
2010 $903 million
From this article:
Largest Nev. Casinos Lose $3.4B During Fiscal 2010
Nevada's 256 largest casinos lose $3.4B during fiscal 2010, compared with $6.8B previous year [And don't miss that article!]
The Associated Press
By OSKAR GARCIA Associated Press
Nevada's 256 casinos paid $777.6 million in taxes
Maybe it's time for Beacon Hill to clean house and restore transparency and ethics before embarking on another BLOATED REGULATORY BUREAUCRACY filled with unqualified political hacks and campaign contributors.
Please note that not one of Middleboro's elected delegation signed on to co-sponsor this legislation. Each of them voted for this flawed legislation, even the crap produced on the closing day of the legislative session that contained 17 pages of ERRATA, some of which changed the intent.
Maybe one-party rule doesn't make sense when we send mindless dweebs to Boston who are incapable of supporting the best interests of the Commonwealth over the strong-arming of the Speaker.
From:
Florida: False Promises
A 2010 report by the New Hampshire Gambling Commission concluded that adding one casino (in New Hampshire) would raise $219 million in state revenue, but the total social cost would be $287.7 million: a net drain of $68.7 million.
BREWER FILES BILL TO REQUIRE GAMBLING COSTS-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
[from SHNS, no link available]
By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 5, 2011…..Sen. Stephen Brewer, appointed to the Senate’s most powerful budget-writing post last month by Senate President Therese Murray, is backing legislation championed by anti-gambling forces that requires a detailed cost-benefit analysis as a prerequisite to the introduction of slot parlors or casinos.
“We want a data-driven discussion,” said Kathleen Conley Norbut, an anti-gambling advocate who previously led United to Stop Slots Massachusetts. “We don’t want benefit studies done by the gambling industries having that kind of disinformation continue to be spread.”
Brewer, who voted against expanded gambling legislation last session, has declared himself open-minded on the issue and was appointed to chair to Senate Ways and Means Committee despite voting last year to reject a proposal that would have sanctioned three casinos and two slot parlors. The bill passed the House and Senate in July but died when Gov. Deval Patrick sent it back to the Legislature after lawmakers had adjourned formal sessions for the year.
Expanded gambling critics have pushed for a cost-benefit analysis, arguing other studies commissioned by the governor and Legislature omitted details about the potential downside of expanded gambling.
Brewer did not respond to a request for comment.
Brewer’s proposal, co-sponsored by 20 lawmakers, would require Patrick to commission a “comprehensive independent analysis of the costs and benefits” of legalizing new forms of gambling in Massachusetts. The study would be required to assess:
- Impacts on communities that host expanded gambling facilities and other communities within a 25-mile radius;
- Short-term, medium-term and long-term impacts that factor in the potential effect of gambling facilities being built in other states along the Massachusetts border, the impact of a potential casino on tribal land in Massachusetts, and the potential impact of the legalization of internet gambling;
- The effect on the economy that occurs because of jobs created by the gambling industry but also “the adverse impacts on jobs whose existence pre-dates” expanded gambling;
- The increase in tax revenue to the state, but also “the anticipated loss or diminution of revenues” from businesses damaged by the introduction of gambling; and,
- The costs to Massachusetts or communities hosting gambling facilities of establishing a new regulatory structure to oversee the industry, addressing any increase in criminal activity that results from gambling, incarcerating those found guilty of violating new gambling laws, capital improvements necessary to accommodate new gambling facilities, compulsive gambling, increased bankruptcies, and increased health care utilization to address gambling addiction issues.
According to the legislation, if the study concludes that the expanded gambling’s costs outweigh its benefits, any expanded gambling legislation would require two-third approval in the House and the Senate to reach the governor’s desk.
Norbut, who is also listed as a co-sponsor of the legislation, blistered House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who has vowed a renewed push for expanded gambling this session.
“The speaker borders on being obsessed with this issue, and that’s unfortunate for the comprehensive needs of the commonwealth,” she said. “It’s no surprise to hear him continuing to go with supporting misinformation.”
DeLeo has supported expanded gambling, particularly slot parlors at existing racetracks, as an immediate source of local aid for cities and towns who are bracing for a cut next fiscal year.
“The speaker’s made his concerns clear in the dire fiscal situation about the need for revenue and the need for jobs,” said DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell.
Asked whether he’d be open to a cost-benefit analysis, Gitell said, “At this time we haven’t seen the bill in the House.”
DeLeo and Gov. Patrick have indicated they might try to work out their differences on gambling behind closed doors to prevent the issue from consuming the legislative agenda. But both have also recently acknowledged they haven’t had a substantive conversation about gambling since talks collapsed last July.
Sen. Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) filed a three-casino proposal in early January, hoping to spur debate on the issue earlier in the session and prevent a repeat of last year’s race against the clock.
Co-sponsors of Brewer’s bill include: Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst), a House Floor Division leader; Rep. William Brownsberger (D-Belmont); Rep. Thomas Conroy (D-Wayland); Rep. James Lyons (R-Andover); Rep. Elizabeth Malia (D-Jamaica), co-chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse; Rep. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton); Rep. Carlo Basile (D-East Boston); Rep. Frank Smizik (D-Brookline); Rep. Ruth Balser (D-Newton); Rep. Carolyn Dykema (D-Holliston); Rep. Todd Smola (R-Palmer); Rep. Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow); Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville); Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville); Sen. Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln); Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton); Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge); Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield); Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton); and Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield).
Below is a SHNS article about SB 339 calling for an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS.
Beacon Hill has frittered away taxpayers' hard-earned dollars on phony reports that extol the wildly exaggerated revenue and job creation numbers, beginning with the Governor spending $189,000 for the first Spectrum Gaming report.
None of those reports considered the costs and impacts that will be imposed on communities and regions. Those costs will be substantial.
The Massachusetts Lottery provides more revenue to Massachusetts cities and towns than 256 Nevada Casinos.
Here:
Massachusetts Lottery earns more than Nevada's 256 Casinos
Massachusetts Lottery Revenues:
2008 $913 million
2009 $859 million
2010 $903 million
From this article:
Largest Nev. Casinos Lose $3.4B During Fiscal 2010
Nevada's 256 largest casinos lose $3.4B during fiscal 2010, compared with $6.8B previous year [And don't miss that article!]
The Associated Press
By OSKAR GARCIA Associated Press
Nevada's 256 casinos paid $777.6 million in taxes
Maybe it's time for Beacon Hill to clean house and restore transparency and ethics before embarking on another BLOATED REGULATORY BUREAUCRACY filled with unqualified political hacks and campaign contributors.
Please note that not one of Middleboro's elected delegation signed on to co-sponsor this legislation. Each of them voted for this flawed legislation, even the crap produced on the closing day of the legislative session that contained 17 pages of ERRATA, some of which changed the intent.
Maybe one-party rule doesn't make sense when we send mindless dweebs to Boston who are incapable of supporting the best interests of the Commonwealth over the strong-arming of the Speaker.
From:
Florida: False Promises
A 2010 report by the New Hampshire Gambling Commission concluded that adding one casino (in New Hampshire) would raise $219 million in state revenue, but the total social cost would be $287.7 million: a net drain of $68.7 million.
BREWER FILES BILL TO REQUIRE GAMBLING COSTS-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
[from SHNS, no link available]
By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 5, 2011…..Sen. Stephen Brewer, appointed to the Senate’s most powerful budget-writing post last month by Senate President Therese Murray, is backing legislation championed by anti-gambling forces that requires a detailed cost-benefit analysis as a prerequisite to the introduction of slot parlors or casinos.
“We want a data-driven discussion,” said Kathleen Conley Norbut, an anti-gambling advocate who previously led United to Stop Slots Massachusetts. “We don’t want benefit studies done by the gambling industries having that kind of disinformation continue to be spread.”
Brewer, who voted against expanded gambling legislation last session, has declared himself open-minded on the issue and was appointed to chair to Senate Ways and Means Committee despite voting last year to reject a proposal that would have sanctioned three casinos and two slot parlors. The bill passed the House and Senate in July but died when Gov. Deval Patrick sent it back to the Legislature after lawmakers had adjourned formal sessions for the year.
Expanded gambling critics have pushed for a cost-benefit analysis, arguing other studies commissioned by the governor and Legislature omitted details about the potential downside of expanded gambling.
Brewer did not respond to a request for comment.
Brewer’s proposal, co-sponsored by 20 lawmakers, would require Patrick to commission a “comprehensive independent analysis of the costs and benefits” of legalizing new forms of gambling in Massachusetts. The study would be required to assess:
- Impacts on communities that host expanded gambling facilities and other communities within a 25-mile radius;
- Short-term, medium-term and long-term impacts that factor in the potential effect of gambling facilities being built in other states along the Massachusetts border, the impact of a potential casino on tribal land in Massachusetts, and the potential impact of the legalization of internet gambling;
- The effect on the economy that occurs because of jobs created by the gambling industry but also “the adverse impacts on jobs whose existence pre-dates” expanded gambling;
- The increase in tax revenue to the state, but also “the anticipated loss or diminution of revenues” from businesses damaged by the introduction of gambling; and,
- The costs to Massachusetts or communities hosting gambling facilities of establishing a new regulatory structure to oversee the industry, addressing any increase in criminal activity that results from gambling, incarcerating those found guilty of violating new gambling laws, capital improvements necessary to accommodate new gambling facilities, compulsive gambling, increased bankruptcies, and increased health care utilization to address gambling addiction issues.
According to the legislation, if the study concludes that the expanded gambling’s costs outweigh its benefits, any expanded gambling legislation would require two-third approval in the House and the Senate to reach the governor’s desk.
Norbut, who is also listed as a co-sponsor of the legislation, blistered House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who has vowed a renewed push for expanded gambling this session.
“The speaker borders on being obsessed with this issue, and that’s unfortunate for the comprehensive needs of the commonwealth,” she said. “It’s no surprise to hear him continuing to go with supporting misinformation.”
DeLeo has supported expanded gambling, particularly slot parlors at existing racetracks, as an immediate source of local aid for cities and towns who are bracing for a cut next fiscal year.
“The speaker’s made his concerns clear in the dire fiscal situation about the need for revenue and the need for jobs,” said DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell.
Asked whether he’d be open to a cost-benefit analysis, Gitell said, “At this time we haven’t seen the bill in the House.”
DeLeo and Gov. Patrick have indicated they might try to work out their differences on gambling behind closed doors to prevent the issue from consuming the legislative agenda. But both have also recently acknowledged they haven’t had a substantive conversation about gambling since talks collapsed last July.
Sen. Jennifer Flanagan (D-Leominster) filed a three-casino proposal in early January, hoping to spur debate on the issue earlier in the session and prevent a repeat of last year’s race against the clock.
Co-sponsors of Brewer’s bill include: Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst), a House Floor Division leader; Rep. William Brownsberger (D-Belmont); Rep. Thomas Conroy (D-Wayland); Rep. James Lyons (R-Andover); Rep. Elizabeth Malia (D-Jamaica), co-chair of the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse; Rep. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton); Rep. Carlo Basile (D-East Boston); Rep. Frank Smizik (D-Brookline); Rep. Ruth Balser (D-Newton); Rep. Carolyn Dykema (D-Holliston); Rep. Todd Smola (R-Palmer); Rep. Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow); Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville); Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville); Sen. Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln); Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton); Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge); Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield); Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton); and Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield).
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