They don't want to hear!
Academic offers grim outlook for gaming in Massachusetts
By Andy Metzger / State House News Service
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The most enticing casino games might involve cards, dice and flashing lights, but in academic Robert Goodman’s telling, the spread of gaming across the country has been more like a collapsing string of dominoes.
“The more that this happens in Massachusetts, the more it’s going to happen in Rhode Island and Maine and all the surrounding states,” Goodman told reporters outside the Massachusetts Gaming Commission meeting on Tuesday, saying “New Hampshire is very likely to argue for several casinos.”
Testifying before the commission, Goodman laid out a grim picture of casinos’ impact and suggested that the commission put a halt to casinos licenses until an economic study is complete.
“I think a lot of comments that he poses maybe have been better suited for when we were having the debate about bringing casinos or not. I think that debate is already over,” commissioner Enrique Zuniga told the News Service after the meeting.
[Commissioner Zuniga, Maybe you weren't paying attention, but Professor Goodman has offered those comments repeatedly, as have others.]
In late spring, Rep. Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee) publicly admonished commission chairman Stephen Crosby for suggesting that the commission might issue less than the maximum three casinos permitted by law, depending on the results of an economic analysis.
"The clear legislative intent was for the Gaming Commission to license three resort casinos if private sector market conditions supported that capacity," Wagner’s press release said. He went on to say,
"The private sector will determine market capacity. Therefore, the job of the Gaming Commission is to secure the best agreement for the citizens and taxpayers for each region."
[Braniac Rep. Wagner hasn't noticed that Foxwoods and Moehgan Sun have declining revenues and are mired in debt or that other states have been forced to bailout the Gambling Industry. One can only speculate that Rep Wagner may have an employment promise since he was so convinced of his brilliance.]
Zuniga was more amenable toward Goodman’s ideas for a study, though Goodman himself was incredulous that the state passed the gaming law last November without a thorough academic study.
[It took Governor Slot Barns Patrick more than two years to meet with casino opponents. The Governor agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST ANALYSIS and developed amnesia after his re-election.]
“In terms of looking at the actual economic impacts of problem gamblers, there was very little. In most cases nothing,” said Goodman, an emeritus professor at Hampshire College who said studies that preceded passage of the law were funded by the gaming industry and did not delve deeper than forecasts on the number of jobs created.
Even those jobs created by casinos could become a liability, leaving lawmakers open to pressure if the casinos hit rough financial times and need a bailout.
“You’ll have thousands of people working at the casinos and should they run into trouble you’ll have people at the State House saying, ‘Keep our jobs,’ ” said Goodman, who claimed Indiana has been paying $60 million per year to subsidize the racing industry and New Jersey gave $261 million in tax breaks to an Atlantic City casino developer after Morgan Stanley walked away from a $1.2 billion investment.
An unabashed critic of the gaming industry, Goodman wrote “The Luck Business” and has debated gaming with casino proponent Congressman Barney Frank in the pages of Commonwealth Magazine.
The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion
by Robert Goodman, Ph.D.
He said “any” casino would be “too much” in what he describes as an already saturated market for gambling.
“You’re the commission. You’re the gambling or Gaming Commission, I’d call a halt of this whole thing until you had a serious economic impact analysis,” Goodman said.
Goodman said an economic study into a casino’s impact should look at the effect on nearby businesses and the potential secondary effects of problem gambling, including debts, bankruptcies, fraud and other crime.
In its proposed budget the Gaming Commission is planning for nearly $1.2 million to be spent on research projects, including $100,000 on economic impact and $937,000 for a baseline study of compulsive gambling.
Other effects of gaming in Massachusetts could include a shift in the political culture, as the gaming lobby maintains power and state officials begin to rely on gaming revenues.
“The state will shift from being a regulator of gambling. But they will primarily become a promoter of gambling,” Goodman said.
http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1061146687
“The more that this happens in Massachusetts, the more it’s going to happen in Rhode Island and Maine and all the surrounding states,” Goodman told reporters outside the Massachusetts Gaming Commission meeting on Tuesday, saying “New Hampshire is very likely to argue for several casinos.”
Testifying before the commission, Goodman laid out a grim picture of casinos’ impact and suggested that the commission put a halt to casinos licenses until an economic study is complete.
“I think a lot of comments that he poses maybe have been better suited for when we were having the debate about bringing casinos or not. I think that debate is already over,” commissioner Enrique Zuniga told the News Service after the meeting.
[Commissioner Zuniga, Maybe you weren't paying attention, but Professor Goodman has offered those comments repeatedly, as have others.]
In late spring, Rep. Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee) publicly admonished commission chairman Stephen Crosby for suggesting that the commission might issue less than the maximum three casinos permitted by law, depending on the results of an economic analysis.
"The clear legislative intent was for the Gaming Commission to license three resort casinos if private sector market conditions supported that capacity," Wagner’s press release said. He went on to say,
"The private sector will determine market capacity. Therefore, the job of the Gaming Commission is to secure the best agreement for the citizens and taxpayers for each region."
[Braniac Rep. Wagner hasn't noticed that Foxwoods and Moehgan Sun have declining revenues and are mired in debt or that other states have been forced to bailout the Gambling Industry. One can only speculate that Rep Wagner may have an employment promise since he was so convinced of his brilliance.]
Zuniga was more amenable toward Goodman’s ideas for a study, though Goodman himself was incredulous that the state passed the gaming law last November without a thorough academic study.
[It took Governor Slot Barns Patrick more than two years to meet with casino opponents. The Governor agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST ANALYSIS and developed amnesia after his re-election.]
“In terms of looking at the actual economic impacts of problem gamblers, there was very little. In most cases nothing,” said Goodman, an emeritus professor at Hampshire College who said studies that preceded passage of the law were funded by the gaming industry and did not delve deeper than forecasts on the number of jobs created.
Even those jobs created by casinos could become a liability, leaving lawmakers open to pressure if the casinos hit rough financial times and need a bailout.
“You’ll have thousands of people working at the casinos and should they run into trouble you’ll have people at the State House saying, ‘Keep our jobs,’ ” said Goodman, who claimed Indiana has been paying $60 million per year to subsidize the racing industry and New Jersey gave $261 million in tax breaks to an Atlantic City casino developer after Morgan Stanley walked away from a $1.2 billion investment.
An unabashed critic of the gaming industry, Goodman wrote “The Luck Business” and has debated gaming with casino proponent Congressman Barney Frank in the pages of Commonwealth Magazine.
The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion
by Robert Goodman, Ph.D.
He said “any” casino would be “too much” in what he describes as an already saturated market for gambling.
“You’re the commission. You’re the gambling or Gaming Commission, I’d call a halt of this whole thing until you had a serious economic impact analysis,” Goodman said.
Goodman said an economic study into a casino’s impact should look at the effect on nearby businesses and the potential secondary effects of problem gambling, including debts, bankruptcies, fraud and other crime.
In its proposed budget the Gaming Commission is planning for nearly $1.2 million to be spent on research projects, including $100,000 on economic impact and $937,000 for a baseline study of compulsive gambling.
Other effects of gaming in Massachusetts could include a shift in the political culture, as the gaming lobby maintains power and state officials begin to rely on gaming revenues.
“The state will shift from being a regulator of gambling. But they will primarily become a promoter of gambling,” Goodman said.
http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1061146687
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