The failure of the Legislature to conduct an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS says it all.
They don't want to know the facts!
This is merely a distraction to conceal Failed Public Policy!
Top Massachusetts legislator criticizes gaming official for saying state might not license 3 casinos
Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat and co-author of the state's expanded gaming law, said companies are planning casino resorts in different regions of the state, showing they believe the market in Massachusetts can support three resorts. In a press release, Wagner said the private sector will determine the market for casinos in Massachusetts, not the gaming commission. The commission's job is to secure the best agreements with casinos to benefit taxpayers and citizens, Wagner said.
"Why would we be having a discussion about the idea there might be less than three casinos?" asked Wagner, who is a close ally of House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. "It's pretty clear there is a very strong interest for casinos in each of the three regions established under the expanded gaming law."
In Western Massachusetts, Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas is planning a resort for Springfield and the Mohegan Sun is proposing a casino for Palmer. The Wampanoag Tribe in Mashpee is planning a casino for Taunton in the southeast part of the state and the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston is teamed up with a casino company for a possible resort.
Stephen Crosby"We are going to try to base it on real data," Crosby said of the commission's decision on the number of casinos. "The legislation came up with three plus one based on a series of economic analyses of what the market could bear. If that still holds, that's what we will do. But it is part of our job to double check that."
Crosby could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
The state's gaming law says the commission could approve "up to" three casino resorts in three different regions including one for anywhere in the four counties of Western Massachusetts, Crosby said.
Wagner said the language accounted for the possibility that a company might not propose a casino for a region.
"How could we mandate issuance of a license if we had no one interested in a license?" Wagner said.
Crosby said the commission will take a fresh look at economic analyses that have suggested the market in Massachusetts could support as many as three casino resorts.
Stanley RosenbergSen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat and the Senate point man on casinos, said it is appropriate to update market studies on casinos, including one done for the Senate.
If legislators meant to approve three casinos under any and all circumstances, then they would have stated that three casinos must be approved, Rosenberg said. The commission needs the flexibility provided in the law, he said.
Updated market studies could be important, he said. If a casino operator proposes $1 billion casino, for example, then the commission needs to know if the market could support that, considering the law requires a minimum $500 million capital investment in a casino resort, Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg said it would take only a few weeks to make the studies current. "These consultants are up to date every day in changes in the market and changes in the industry," he said.
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