Elsewhere, it's education.
In Massachusetts, it's a laundry list of business sectors that will be adversely affected.
This legislation, if passed will destroy struggling performing arts center that have been a major local draw.
Since Slot Barns are wildly profitable, they subsidize their entertainment venues to get you there, offer premiums to performers and include non-compete clauses that prevent performers from performing regionally.
Now, the Cape is concerned about TOURISM. Kiss that puppy Good-bye!
Solid data show that when casinos come to heritage tourism towns, visitation to the historic resource plummets as it did in Vicksburg, Miss., where 40 percent of the historic downtown is now shuttered.
Tourists don't vacation with their families in places that include gambling with the accompanying increased crime.
Families like wholesome places like Faneuil Hall and the Freedom Trail that are safe and historic.
Cape seeks payout from casino profits
By GEORGE BRENNAN
The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, worried a casino will pilfer local visitors and workers, wants casino profits to go toward promotion and job training if expanded gambling legislation is approved.
Meanwhile, Middleboro officials say they will take legal action if the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe locates an Indian casino in another town.
As the House gets ready to debate an expanded gambling bill Wednesday, subplots are spinning like a roulette wheel.
The gambling bill calls for a slot parlor at one of the state's racetracks and three resort-style casinos, including one in Southeastern Massachusetts for which the tribe would have a 10-month window to negotiate with the governor. If the tribe can't settle its land issues by Aug. 1, 2012, the gaming commission could put the region's license out to competitive bid.
Regardless of who opens a casino, the chamber fears a potential loss in tourism and a drain on workers, Wendy Northcross, the chamber's chief executive officer, said.
"We have had a long-standing opposition to the casino law because we don't think it would benefit the state the way some legislators do," Northcross said. "It will reduce our already shrinking labor pool and will have some effect on where visitors will go."
Should the legislation pass, the chamber wants to make sure the Cape is protected, she said.
There are already earmarks for casino revenue in the legislation, including 0.5 percent for tourist promotion agencies and 2 percent for performing arts centers that might be affected by casino venues. Tourism funding will also receive 1.5 percent of licensing fees paid by developers.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, co-chairwoman of the joint tourism committee, said 0.5 percent is not enough. A previous bill included 2 percent and a Springfield legislator is proposing an amendment to make sure this year's bill includes at least 1 percent, she said.
"It's important for us to get as much money as we can to market Massachusetts as a tourist destination and more than just a casino destination," Peake said.
In a statement, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said the tribe will use its rich history on the Cape and in Southeastern Massachusetts to promote tourism.
"We are not some developer from Las Vegas who will build a casino without regard for the character of this area and leave with all the profits," he said. [No, you're just funded by Malaysian Investors who have no ties to the country.]
The tribe will make an effort to work with tourism councils and others to attract more tourists to the region, Cromwell said.
"This project will attract new visitors to Massachusetts, enhancing and expanding tourism to the area, and we look forward to working with our neighbors cooperatively to benefit the whole region," he said.
An amendment filed Friday by state Rep. Demetrius Atsalis, D-Barnstable, seeks an unspecified amount of money for job retraining on the Cape and other areas affected by proposed casinos.
"I'm supportive of the casinos and at the same time I want to keep the jobs here," Atsalis said. [Cognitive Dissonance?]
Just where a tribe-owned casino might land in Southeastern Massachusetts remains unclear. In 2007, after gaining federal rights to open a casino, Mashpee leaders reached an agreement to build a $1 billion casino on 539 acres in Middleboro.
But a leadership scandal, failed casino legislation and growing displeasure with the tribe by Middleboro activists** led the Mashpee Wampanoag to begin seeking land in other locations. Last year, the tribe announced it was ending its commitment to Middleboro and had reached an agreement with Fall River. The Fall River agreement has since fallen through.
**This is pretty impressive to suggest that Middleboro's Opposition was that effective. The Grossly Flawed Middleboro IGA [inter-governmental agreement] required that the "Tribe" [meaning investors since the Tribe has no $$$] spend a few hundred million dollars paying for necessary infrastructure improvements - you know? That foolish rotary and lane drop that backs traffic up for miles?
Middleboro's position, Town Manager Charles Cristello said, is that the town still has a valid intergovernmental agreement with the Mashpee Wampanoag.
"It's fair to say that we feel we would have a cause of action if they were to go anywhere else with an Indian casino other than Middleboro," Cristello said. "We have an agreement, it's enforceable and we're going to make sure they follow it. That's our position."
Through a spokeswoman, Cromwell declined to comment on the Middleboro agreement.
The two sides sat down at the negotiating table in an attempt to sever the deal, but have not reached an agreement, said Cristello and Dennis Whittlesey, the attorney hired by the town to craft a settlement.
"We never resolved anything," Cristello said
In recent months, the two sides have sparred in letters over mitigation money agreed to in the 2007 deal. The tribe has paid Middleboro $750,000 so far, but balked when the town demanded more in July.
Cromwell, in an Aug. 22 reply to Middleboro, wrote that no further payments would be made and urged the town to stop spending money previously collected.
Middleboro's threat of legal action may be a negotiating ploy, knowing they are a potential obstacle for the tribe's casino plans.
Cristello and Whittlesey refused to comment Friday on the last time the two sides met or if a future meeting is scheduled.
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