Delaware Subsidizes Slot Barns

Just wait...this is what Massachusetts faces.

Early in the process, testimony was presented in Gardner Auditorium warning legislators about the partnership with the Gambling Industry. They didn't listen!

All In | June 20, 2013

Bailout for Delaware casinos exposes national problem

A proposed bailout is seen as a rude awakening to taxpayers who are always told that state- approved gambling is a revenue generator. There are now so many casinos in the U.S. that the new ones are hurting the revenue of the older ones. Host Chris Hayes asks Delaware and New York lawmakers if casinos make sense.

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Delaware finalizes casino aid plan

$8M will be used to pay machine vendors

Jun. 20, 2013 11:15 PM

 

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Lawmakers completed work in committee Thursday on the state's capital budget, approving an $8 million plan to aid Delaware's casino industry by paying vendors that supply video lottery machines. / JENNIFER CORBETT/NEWS JOURNAL FILE

Written by

Doug Denison and Jonathan Starkey

The News Journal

DOVER — Lawmakers completed work in committee Thursday on the state’s capital budget, approving an $8 million plan to aid Delaware’s casino industry. Gov. Jack Markell proposed the casino bailout, which was among a series of projects that sopped up a $50 million state budget surplus identified earlier in the week.

Delaware’s Finance Department will use the casino money to pay vendors that supply video lottery machines to Dover Downs, Delaware Park and Harrington Raceway, administration officials said. Payments will go directly from state accounts to the vendors to cover rising costs that state officials expect to begin this summer. Casino executives have been lobbying for a tax cut as they face rising competition from surrounding states.

Delaware lawmakers rely on more than $200 million in gambling revenue to balance the budget each year.

“Our intent, of course, is to try to protect as best we can that revenue and the jobs those employers represent,” Markell said.





http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130621/NEWS/306210033/Delaware-finalizes-casino-aid-plan