May 12. 2013 2:09AM
Garry Rayno's State House Dome: Gambling with changes
By GARRY RAYNO
State House Bureau
Proposed changes to Senate Bill 152, which passed the Senate on a 16-8 vote and has the backing of Gov. Maggie Hassan, were outlined by three subcommittees Thursday. The changes would include increasing the state's share of casino profits and how those monies were allocated; changing regulatory oversight; requiring greater investment by the casino developer and protecting charity gambling and existing entertainment centers such as the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord and the Music Hall in Portsmouth.
One proposed change would lower the licensing fee from $80 million to $50 million but increase the state tax on profits from video lottery machines (from 30 percent to 33.3 percent) and table games (from 14 percent to 16 percent).
Another change would require a greater investment by the casino developer and an extension of the license duration from 10 to 20 years. When it was time to renew the license, lawmakers could decide whether casino gambling should continue in New Hampshire.
A third change would limit political contributions by those associated with the casino. The regulatory subcommittee, which proposed this change, also: questioned whether the Lottery Commission should be the lead regulator or a separate agency should be established; said it wanted the attorney general and the Department of Safety to play bigger roles; and said it wanted all rules in place before the license was issued.
The proposed changes did not sit well with the prime sponsor of the bill.
"Never in the history of this Legislature has such a large group been put together to dissemble a piece of legislation and call it righteousness," said Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester. "What is righteousness?"
The joint committee will meet Wednesday to hear from the authors of the proposed amendments, including Rep. Pat Long, D-Manchester, who wants to protect Verizon Wireless Arena from competition from casino entertainment offerings.
The committee expects to decide Wednesday afternoon what to do with the bill. If the first motion by a committee member is to kill the bill, which is a real possibility, then all the discussion about amendments would be moot.
Instead, the amendments would be fought out on the floor of the House, which may vote on the bill May 22.
Some say the vote in the House will fail by 40 to 50 votes; others say it has a real shot at passage.
Regardless, the vote will affect everything from the budget to relations between the House and the Senate for the rest of the session and into next year.
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