Monitor editorial
It's up to voters to keep out casinos
August 20, 2012
Opening New Hampshire up to casino gambling is a more foolhardy bet than ever. With two casinos already open in Maine and up to four more - three casinos and one slot parlor - in line to open in Massachusetts, a New Hampshire casino would draw almost all of its business from in-state residents. Money now going to local stores and restaurants would instead disappear into the far-off accounts of casino owners. The much hoped-for take in state licensing fees and gambling taxes wouldn't be enough to compensate for the cost of additional social problems, loss of tax revenue from existing businesses, damage to New Hampshire's image as a family-friendly vacation state and the inevitable corrupting influence of gambling money on state politics.
Since there's no choice on the issue at the top of the ticket, voters who don't want to see New Hampshire's politicians in thrall to gambling interests will have to focus on House and Senate races. They should let candidates know how they feel. That includes Concord Sen. Sylvia Larsen, another one-time casino opponent who now cites the need for more state revenue to justify her change of position. In her heart of hearts Larsen must know that New Hampshire is better off without casinos and slot machine parlors, and we urge her to reconsider her position.
Three of the gubernatorial candidates - Lamontagne, Cilley and Hassan - support, to varying degrees, a plan to permit a so-called destination resort casino to open at the old racetrack at Rockingham Park in Salem. Las Vegas-based Millenium Gaming has an option to buy the park and has lobbied for years to convince lawmakers to expand gambling.
Millenium says if the Legislature and governor approve, the company will build a $450 million hotel and casino complex at the park. We're skeptical. Casino revenues have been falling. Meanwhile, competition for gambling dollars continues to increase. Last week, the Boston Globe reported that the Suffolk Downs racetrack paid the Massachusetts Gaming Commission a $400,000 nonrefundable fee to begin the process of licensing what its owners say will be a joint effort with Caesars Entertainment Corp. to build a $1 billion casino resort, hotel and retail complex there. Suffolk Downs is less than 40 miles from Rockingham Park, and you can get to it by subway from Boston. Millenium could build it in Salem, but the gamblers won't come, not when they live much closer to a much bigger and glitzier casino.
If the gamblers don't come, the state won't get the revenue it hopes will fill state coffers. What it could get, if lawmakers aren't careful, is a cheesy casino and slot-machine parlor that drains the wallets of New Hampshire residents.
Gambling interests will almost certainly spend big to support pro-casino candidates and lobby lawmakers. The National Institute on Money in State Politics, in a 2009 report funded in part by the Ford Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust, found that in the eight states that held a referendum on expanded gambling, the gaming industry outspent its opponents by 48 to 1. Once they win, they'll keep spending to curry favor with politicians and protect their profits. Voters who don't want that to happen should elect candidates who oppose expanded gambling.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/349345/its-up-to-voters-to-keep-out-casinos
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/349345/its-up-to-voters-to-keep-out-casinos
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