The fight over pie-in-the-sky casino
revenue promises is now dominating the legislature. If you are silent,
Millennium Gaming, the Las Vegas casino company and its dozen lobbyists
win.
Take
Action Now!
- Our
recent mailing to New Hampshire legislators is a big hit. It's a quick read,
heavy on graphics and compelling data. Read and
print out a copy here.
- Contact
your legislators here.
Send them a link to the
mailing to be sure they've seen it.
- Call
or email your undecided representative.
Many have not yet decided how they will vote on SB152,
Governor Hassan's preferred casino bill. Hit reply to this email, noting
your residence town, and I will send you contact info on the one or two
legislators who represent you and who most need to hear from you.
A NH Resident Visits a Colorado Casino
Letter to the Concord Monitor
February 19, 2013
I am horrified that Gov. Maggie Hassan believes gambling is going to
"rebuild" New Hampshire. We don't need rebuilding.
I have seen firsthand how gambling can turn a beautiful city into an
undesirable, disgusting city. We went to Colorado five years ago for our son's
wedding, and friends from New Hampshire were with us. My husband had lived in
Colorado previously and wanted to show us this lovely old mining town called
Central City. We drove into the mountains and were looking forward to seeing it
and having a delicious lunch.
It was nothing like my husband described. The only businesses were
casinos. We drove all over looking for an independent restaurant but found none.
We were so hungry at that point that we had to eat in a casino - $4.95 for
all-you-can-eat buffet! People were like zombies, even dragging oxygen tanks
around, and sitting at the slot machines for hours. The food was inedible, and
when we ordered a glass of wine, the waitress said, "Go over to the slots;
you'll get it for free, if you gamble!"
Most people gamble to win money; it becomes addictive, crime ensues,
people become desperate; then we need more social services to deal with those
issues. Our restaurants and lodging will suffer, as they can't compete with the
casino offerings of "free" while you gamble. I will never forget that day. I am
so grateful beautiful New Hampshire has nothing like that pathetic place, and I
hope it never will.
Heidi Arnold, Bow, NH
Is
a "High End" Casino an Economic Development Strategy?
Will
Governor Hassan Follow Governor Christie?
Are
Failing Casinos Good for Taxpayers?
Christie-Backed
Revel Atlantic City Plans Bankruptcy
February
20, 2013
Revel
AC Inc., the casino owner that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie bet on to
revive Atlantic City, plans to file for a prepackaged bankruptcy that will
reduce its debt burden by more than $1 billion ... An attempt to bring
higher-end customers to the seaside city, Revel has struggled to attract
business.
With
encouragement from Christie, the state's Economic Development Authority granted
$261 million in tax incentives to help jump start stalled construction of the
project in February 2011. Christie, a Republican, signed legislation at the
Revel construction site that created a state tourism district in the city,
boosted marketing of the resorts and eased regulations on casino
operators.
Lessons from Other States:
Will Mass Gambling Dollars Flow North to Salem?
Casinos Saturating U.S. Midwest Cannibalize State
Revenue
February 7, 2013
Mike Thomas, a retired salesman for a truck manufacturer, says odds are
that he'll stop driving 45 minutes five days a week from Ohio to play slot
machines at Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Instead, he and his wife,
Sandy, expect to do their betting at the Horseshoe Casino in downtown
Cincinnati, set to open next month about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from their
suburban home. He doesn't think he'll be alone, noting that most cars in the
Indiana casino's garage bore Ohio plates.
"They're going to lose a lot of customers," said Thomas, a 75-year-old
in an Ohio State Buckeyes sweatshirt and cap. "I'm not going to drive 40 miles
if I can do as well there."
The Cincinnati casino will be the fourth to open in Ohio since voters
approved them in 2009, and as many as seven horse tracks with slots also are
planned. Yet even as revenue at the Ohio casinos has missed projections, they're
siphoning money from Indiana and Michigan. With most major Midwest markets now
served, states that rely on gambling taxes for schools and other services are
fighting for a piece of the action.
"It's close to the saturation point," Alex Bumazhny, director in Fitch
Rating's Gaming, Lodging & Leisure group, said in a telephone interview from
New York. "It's almost a zero-sum game whenever a new casino opens."
Tax revenue from Indiana's 13 betting sites has declined every year
since 2009, according to the state Gaming Commission. Projections for the next
two fiscal years assume about $120 million less because of Ohio competition,
Chris Atkins, director of the Indiana Office of Management and Budget, said in a
telephone interview from Indianapolis. A forecast by the state's Revenue
Forecast Technical Committee in December pointed to "continuing casino market
saturation."
Indiana lawmakers are considering ways bolster the industry. A bill by
state Senator Phil Boots, a Crawfordsville Republican, would allow casinos to
keep more revenue and gambling riverboats to move inland. It may be just a
holding action.
"You lose your ability to out-entice somebody because everybody is
pretty much the same, and everybody is on the same playing field," Mark Nichols,
a professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Reno, and its Institute
for the Study of Gambling & Commercial Gaming, said in a telephone
interview. "Then it just comes down to location."
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