Vote Yes on Question 3: Casinos Threaten Our Jobs

Vote Yes on Question 3: Casinos Threaten Our Jobs

johnt001 | Sun, Sep 28, 2014 9:26 AM EST

According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s own projections, $1 billion dollars a year in local spending will be shifted away from existing businesses to the casinos.

Whether it’s 1,000 Massachusetts businesses each losing $1,000,000 in sales, or 10,000 Massachusetts businesses each losing $100,000 in sales, no business is going to absorb that loss without laying off employees. Are you willing to sacrifice your job so someone else can get a job at a casino? Should your friends and neighbors have to sacrifice theirs?

On November 4th, Vote YES to Repeal the Casino Law
Vote YES on #3
Vote YES to STOP the Casino Mess

 

Donate/volunteer here to stop the casino mess!

24-Hour Casinos A Bad Deal For Illinois, Gambling Critics Say

24-Hour Casinos A Bad Deal For Illinois, Gambling Critics Say
Ellyn FortinoMonday October 14th, 2013

Anti-gambling groups and opponents of around-the-clock casinos are urging the Illinois Gaming Board to reject a proposal that would allow the state's 10 casinos to operate nonstop, seven days a week.

The gaming regulatory board heard arguments last month about the push to extend the current 22-hour operating limit for state casinos to 24 hours. As part of the proposal, backed by the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, casinos would decided on an individual basis whether to operate continuously.

Supporters say the two extra hours would help boost revenue and allow casinos to better compete with video gambling and slot machines at truck stops and bars as well as 24-hour gambling houses in nearby states like Indiana and Wisconsin.

But opponents say they are concerned that people with gambling problems will stay way past the 24 hours.

"We know that there are those horror stories where people sit more than 24 hours and gamble, and that’s not discretionary money, those are the problem gamblers," said Jeanie Lowe, director of governmental affairs with the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems, an anti-gambling organization. "They usually are the ones who have to be asked to leave when (casinos) close for those two hours, [and] maybe that’s the only time they go home or they get away from the machines."

Anita Pindiur, clinical director of The Way Back Inn, a suburban Chicago drug abuse and addiction center, said problem gambling affects about 3 percent to 5 percent of the nation's population.

"When there is a problem gambler in the family, he or she (is) affected by this disease, but so is the family economically [and] emotionally," said Pindiur, a member of the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling.

Pindiur, who said she does not take a position on gaming-related laws or proposals, said she's less concerned about 24-hour casinos and more focused on making sure that help and treatment is available to those who need it.

"If a problem gambler can gamble 22 or 24 hours, it doesn't really make that much of a difference," she explained. "What makes a difference is: is there help? Is it available? And can they access it?"

The Illinois Casino Gaming Association, which represents the 10 casinos, says it has helped with various gambling-addiction efforts, such as working to set up a hotline for addicts as well as a program where people can voluntarily bar themselves from casinos.

Pindiur acknowledged that casinos have taken important steps to address gambling addiction, but she said they could be doing more, especially if the facilities are allowed to operate around the clock.

"If they want to be open 24 hours, great. But if they notice that somebody is there for 24 hours, there's probably some other underlying issue, and perhaps [casino officials] being able and willing to say, 'What is this issue? What do we need to do? Maybe we can do some outreach for this person.'"
Gambling addition can take a toll of families, but it's also a drain on communities, Lowe added.

That's because people with gambling problems often spend a good chunk of their money on gaming and fewer dollars on basic necessities and other forms of entertainment, like going to the movies or out for dinner.

Overall, 24-hour casinos are a bad bet for Illinois' economy, said prominent gambling critic John Kindt, emeritus professor of business and legal policy at the University of Illinois. Kindt called slot machines "job killers."

“Every slot machine takes at least one job out of the consumer economy because people aren’t buying cars, refrigerators and the other necessities of life," Kindt said in a statement. "They’re gambling all that money away. Staying open all day and all night year-round just intensifies this problem.”

Slot machine owners and operators in Illinois each take home 35 percent of a gaming device's gross revenue, and 30 percent is set aside for the state to share with the municipality housing the casino, Kindt noted. That means the state makes $30,000 for every $100,000 a slot machine collects.

“For the state to keep siphoning 35 percent to owners of the machines and then another 35 percent for the operators – the truck stops, the bars – makes it a total giveaway of taxpayer dollars to special interests who are destroying the state’s economy by reducing our overall tax revenues, creating huge new social problems and killing our jobs,” he stressed.

Jane Ramsey, former executive director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and current president of Just Ventures, said casinos already prey on the most vulnerable people, including low-income seniors and families. Ramsey, a member of the Task Force To Oppose Casino Gambling in Chicago, said she's worried that 24-hour casinos would mean more economically-insecure people being drawn to the gaming facilities to spend their already limited resources.

"(Casinos) will get more dollars, but those are not public-good dollars. Those are dollars that are going to private pockets," she said. "Our concern is from a public policy standpoint. The casinos do not benefit the state of Illinois, and they are not benefiting our services."

According to the gaming association, Illinois' nine casinos, not including the new River Casino in Des Plaines, saw revenues drop 38 percent since 2007, which ultimately means a decline in revenue for the state and local communities. The nine casinos also lost a total of 2,000 workers since that time.

The association maintains that 24-hour casinos would provide the state with $5 million in additional revenue each year.

But Lowe said extending casino hours to help level the playing field with gaming devices elsewhere is a "very weak" and "thinly-veiled" argument.

"Because one state does one thing that they shouldn’t do doesn’t mean that Illinois should follow suit and do the same thing," she said, referring to other states that permit 24-hour casinos.

In response to the issue of gaming devices at truck stops and bars, Kindt argued that those gambling services should be scaled back to more reasonable hours.

“Instead of expanding gambling, we need to start restricting it," he said. "A good first step would be rejecting this push to keep casinos open 24/7, and then move on to curbing these obvious abuses at bars and truck stops.”

The gaming board may make a decision regarding the extended casino hours later this month at its October meeting. Board members have already taken up the issue three times since 1990, but they shot it down each time.

"We're just praying that the gambling board will stay strong and continue to be a strong regulator and not a cheerleader for (casinos)," Lowe said. "(Gamblers) just need to be told, 'You need to go home.

It's time to stop.' They need that break. We don’t see that as a lot to ask."

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2013/10/14/24-hour-casinos-bad-deal-illinois-gambling-critics-say

Betraying the Public Trust

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future

Erie Times-News - March 3, 2013 - Whether through lottery or slots, government addicted to gambling

Most of the folks I come across who object to Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to outsource management of the Pennsylvania Lottery focus on the prospective loss of homegrown jobs at the hands of a foreign company.
...
But there's a larger question. The Corbett administration's contract with Camelot Global Services -- now in limbo after new state Attorney General Kathleen Kane deemed it unconstitutional -- is premised on Camelot generating a lot more money from the lottery.

That means the state needs people to lose more to cover the coming increase in demand for the programs benefiting senior citizens that lottery proceeds pay for. While sitting in on the Erie Times-News Editorial Board's meeting with Corbett on Friday, I asked him if it was sound policy to fund a big increase in public spending by encouraging more people to gamble (lose) more cash in more ways more often.

Read more: http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013303039941See More

 

 

 

Pat Howard
Published: March 3, 2013

Pat Howard: Whether through lottery or slots, government addicted to gambling

Pat Howard

Most of the folks I come across who object to Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to outsource management of the Pennsylvania Lottery focus on the prospective loss of homegrown jobs at the hands of a foreign company.

But there's a larger question. The Corbett administration's contract with Camelot Global Services -- now in limbo after new state Attorney General Kathleen Kane deemed it unconstitutional -- is premised on Camelot generating a lot more money from the lottery.

That means the state needs people to lose more to cover the coming increase in demand for the programs benefiting senior citizens that lottery proceeds pay for. While sitting in on the Erie Times-News Editorial Board's meeting with Corbett on Friday, I asked him if it was sound policy to fund a big increase in public spending by encouraging more people to gamble (lose) more cash in more ways more often.

Corbett parsed the issue, saying the idea was to get more people playing rather than coaxing those who already play to lose more. He also noted that the basic course he's on was set in 1971 when the state Legislature created the lottery.

There's no going back, in other words. Just asking the question felt kind of quaint.

Implicit in the governor's plan is another query: What's the alternative? Slashing subsidies to senior citizens as the wave of aging baby boomers swamps Harrisburg would be politically unthinkable, as would raising the sums required through conventional taxes.

So what's needed is a larger pool of suckers who will part with that cash voluntarily. The arrangement with Camelot would commit the company to delivering that in exchange for a piece of the action, which set records for sales and profit in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

While the moral dynamics are similar, the gambling calculus is different in Erie County, where local government's share of the take from Presque Isle Downs & Casino has begun to contract along with the casino's revenue in the face of new competition in Ohio. County government and its Gaming Revenue Authority had been splitting $12 million-plus each year, but it dropped to $11.7 million in 2012 largely because of the opening of Horseshoe Casino Cleveland in May.

When Harrisburg was putting in place casino legislation and as plans for the local slots emporium took shape before its 2007 opening, scattered voices locally raised concerns. Some worried about the effects of gambling's powerful lure on families and the region's social fabric, while others warned that slot machines would redirect people's finite disposable income from the local economy into the casino company's corporate coffers.

Such cautions never got much traction. The prospect of easy money became an unstoppable force.

Much was made of the prevalence of Ohio plates in Presque Isle Downs' parking lots, because whatever cash out-of-state gamblers left behind was a net plus for Erie County's economy. But the Cleveland casino has likely softened that market for good.

We'll get a read on the new normal by the end of the year when the numbers reflect a full year of the more competitive environment. The question isn't if, but by how much, Erie County's share of the take will drop.

What's striking, as that unfolds, is how thoroughly that money has been woven into the planning and finances of county government, not to mention the various civic facilities and institutions that receive annual grants. The casino pipeline didn't exist until six years ago, and now any major slowing in its flow would cause a world of hurt.

Demand for the money quickly expanded to meet the supply. Now it's helping to fuel, among other things, the extension of Erie International Airport's runway, the renovations to Erie Insurance Arena, and a new sprinkler system and water lines at Pleasant Ridge Manor-West.

There's no going back, in other words. So as Gov. Corbett looks for ways to increase the state's lottery take to meet greater need for the things it pays for, local government and nonprofit officials are rooting for Presque Isle Downs to limit its competitive losses so its money can keep covering everything that now depends on it.

Both situations reflect how gambling can be addictive in more ways than one. Government entities that develop the habit soon enough are dependent on a steady supply of people with a weakness for losing odds.

As Corbett suggested, whether it was a good idea in the first place is beside the point. In Erie County, like in Harrisburg, we're all in.

The Insanity of Expanded Gambling!

From our friends at NoPlainvilleRacino who also offered this:

Plainridge is a money loser: According to The Boston Globe, Plainridge was initially profitable but has become a money loser over the past five years, and needs the extra revenue that slot machines would generate to keep the facility afloat. Plainridge’s investors, namely a Las Vegas slot machine tycoon who owns 31% of the track, have pumped at least $32 million into the track over the past decade - and that may soon hit $35 million. Since then, each year has brought additional losses, with Plainridge’s backers subsidizing the money-losing operation as interest steadily dropped in live horse racing. How can we expect Plainridge to be successful with a highly complex slot operation if they cannot even make money with their current business venture? What has Plainridge's management been doing since the track opened - “We have been here for 14 years watching paint dry. This is getting exciting. This is light speed.” - says Gary Piontkowski, Plainridge Racecourse's President.


Illinois video comments worth seeing:

"Gambling is a JOB KILLER...A recent federal commission study indicated every slot machine [...] eats about $300,000 of LOST consumer spending from the economy, every year."

CHAMPAIGN--Supporters of a legalized gambling expansion bill that passed the Illinois Senate last week aren't celebrating quite yet. Governor Pat Quinn is strongly suggesting he won't sign the bill saying he objects to the lack of regulation measures. ABC Newschannel 15's Liz Lohuis stepped out of the world of politics and into the world of education to dig deeper into the issue of gambling.Gaming Expansion: Job Creator or Job Killer?
Monday, June 4 2012


http://www.wicd15.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wicd_vid_5329.shtml

Gambling is a JOB KILLER

From facebook --


Politicians are WRONG. Industry people are LIARS. "Gambling is a JOB KILLER...A recent federal commission study indicated every slot machine [...] eats about $300,000 of LOST consumer spending from the economy, every year." 


WICD ABC NewsChannel 15 :: News - Top Stories Videos

CHAMPAIGN--Supporters of a legalized gambling expansion bill that passed the Illinois Senate last week aren't celebrating quite yet. Governor Pat Quinn is strongly suggesting he won't sign the bill saying he objects to the lack of regulation measures. ABC Newschannel 15's Liz Lohuis stepped out of the world of politics and into the world of education to dig deeper into the issue of gambling.Gaming Expansion: Job Creator or Job Killer?
Monday, June 4 2012


http://www.wicd15.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wicd_vid_5329.shtml

Slot Machines kill jobs

Slot machines kill jobs

Mayor Emanuel is promising to spend his new $140 million a year from the Chicago casino he expects on wonderful things that we’ll all love. While casinos will create some jobs, he tells the Tribune, “the real job growth and economic growth will come from investment” of the city’s take.
It may not be that simple. Consider the costs.

Every new slot machine at a Chicago casino will destroy one job each year, by taking money out of the consumer economy, according to John Warren Kindt, business professor at the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana. Four thousand slots could mean forty thousand lost jobs over a decade.

Each slot machine, conservatively, takes in $100,000 a year. With the multiplier effect on consumer spending, that means that 4,000 planned slot machines in Chicago will remove $1.2 billion from the consumer economy each year, Kindt said.

That’s a loss of $120 million in sales tax, just for starters, to set against the $140 million in city profits. Not to mention a heavy blow to a struggling economy.

There are years of academic research showing that gambling destablizes local economies, he said; much of it is reviewed in the four-volume, 3,000-page U.S. International Gambling Series which Kindt edited. (Tell your library to get it.)

“The economic argument is totally disingenuous,” Kindt said. The state’s proposed gambling expansion “will absolutely hurt the economy.”

The expansion is “all about slot machines,” he said. Up to 90 percent of gambling profits come from slot machines.

“Slot machines don’t create jobs,” Kindt said. “You just dust them off and collect the money.”

And costs to government go up as gambling addiction rises (doubling within casino feeder markets), bankruptcies climb (18 to 42 percent higher in area around casinos, Kindt said) and crime rates go up (about 10 percent a year). That means costs to government of $3 for every $1 in gambling revenue.
So it may not be time yet to start counting chickens. Governor Quinn has yet to sign the bill; and if he does, the win-to-loss ratio may be less favorable than the politicians project.

Kindt recalls promises 20 years ago that casinos in Illinois would solve the state’s budget problems forever. Now, Illinois and two other states with large gambling industries (California and Nevada) lead the nation in budget shortfalls. He’s convinced that “the accumulated taxpayer costs that accompany gambling facilities” are a major factor in Illinois’ budget crisis.

If that’s true, then more of the same wouldn’t be the solution.

http://www.newstips.org/2011/08/slot-machines-kill-jobs/


Only in Massachusetts would leaders fail to listen!

Let's REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL!

East Boston, we can do better than a casino

 

East Boston

Opinion: East Boston, we can do better than a casino

 Posted by Jeremy C. Fox May 10, 2012

 

 

 

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

A scene from Suffolk Downs.

By Giordana Mecagni

Recently, I joined the group No Eastie Casino, and I feel I needed to explain why I feel so compelled to take up this issue in such a public way.

I’m not a native East Bostonian, but I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my life. My husband and I bought a home in Eagle Hill in East Boston almost seven years ago after living in various apartments in Brighton and Somerville for 10 years.

I love Eastie. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have multiple East Boston propaganda speeches, and I try to give back to my community in any way I can. Over the years, I have met people (both old-time families and newcomers) who care just as deeply about our community and are willing to work hard to make it the best place it can be.

One of the things I love about Eastie is that we feel like we live on an island (because we do). There are defined island boundaries, and we’re surrounded by water. This gives Eastie a completely different atmosphere from anywhere else in the city.

I love Eastie’s nautical history and the remaining ocean and boat culture that is pervasive. The Harbor Arts Gallery, the marinas, Piers Park Sailing Center, and the Jeffries Yacht Club are all unique and wonderful Eastie institutions that remind us in a very visceral way that we are tied to the ocean.

Eastie has a can-do attitude. It is a place where an idea or a cause can take root and flourish. I love that Madeleine Steczynski had an idea for the youth music empowerment organization ZUMIX, started it, now is ensconced in a beautiful renovated firehouse, and was recently given a national arts award from Michelle Obama.

I love how a group of Eastie moms had an idea for a dream school and formed Harbor City School in just a couple of years. I love the Atlantic Works Gallery. I love how Chris Marchi and Air Inc. got the East Boston Greenway extended. I love the legacy of the Maverick Mothers who lay down in the road to stop airport traffic from coming through their neighborhood.

Eastie’s small businesses are the cornerstone of our neighborhood. East Boston is a place where “boot-strapping” is possible, as evidenced by our hard-working small businesses, restaurants, and community organizations run by many first- and second-generation Americans. It is also a place where people take a lot of pride in their work, and it shows.

I love my daughter's pediatrician at the wonderful East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. I love candlepin bowling at the Central Park Lanes. I love the Bremen Street YMCA. I love the restaurants. I love the library, and I can't wait to see the new one. I read the East Boston Times-Free Press from cover to cover every week, and I love the articles about new mom-and-pop places opening.

I oppose a casino because what I’d like to see in Eastie is more of what makes this place special. What might be better for East Boston than a casino? A minor-league ball park? A new home for the New England Revolution? A Patriots training field? A new biotech development? A water park?

To grow further, Eastie needs something that will draw people and dollars to our community — and keep them here. I hope for something enriching, something cultural, something positive for moms and dads and kids.

I oppose a casino because I haven't heard a single convincing reason why a casino would be good for East Boston, and in particular for Eastie families. Just by nature, the gambling industry does not serve the middle class, children, or small businesses.

I have heard: A casino will bring income to the state. It will bring jobs for construction and workers in the casinos. But there are a million things that would provide more sustainable growth jobs for Eastie residents and would keep most of the money in small businesses in the area.

As Professor Jack R. Van Der Slik noted, “[casino gambling] produces no product, no new wealth, and so it makes no genuine contribution to economic development. It stimulates a great many people to make a series of small wagers. Most of them lose. A lot of revenue goes back to the few winners, a piece goes to the state … and a big slice pays for administering the game and advertising to attract more losers.”

Can’t we demand something better for our community than a casino? In the age when economic inequality is an urgent topic of public discussion, how can our legislators support an institution that would primarily benefit the already-wealthy casino owners?

A casino at Suffolk Downs may just become just another bad neighbor. East Boston already has two tunnels, a fuel tank farm, and an airport. Although there is a lot of debate about this, many Eastie residents fear that a casino would bring shady lending policies, increased crime, backdoor dealings, and even organized crime.

It undoubtedly will bring heavier traffic to an area that already burdened by north-south drivers. A recent independent study showed that to fix the current problems with the Route 1A infrastructure would cost the state almost $500 million.

First our elected representatives say a casino would bring more visitors to Eastie and more customers to Eastie’s small businesses, and then they say casino traffic won’t impact us because people will be getting to the casino by way of a flyover road from the airport. These two claims are mutually exclusive. Which is it? Will gamblers be driving on our streets or not?

In my opinion, the debate about traffic issues is a red herring to distract East Bostonians from the real issue of whether or not a casino is good for East Boston: do East Bostonians want a casino at all? The Big Dig solved the traffic issues from downtown to Logan, but we’re still stuck with the airport’s constant land- and airspace-grabbing. Until we have an independent, non-casino-funded community impact analysis we won’t know the true scope of what might happen in East Boston.

I contend that keeping a casino out of East Boston and repurposing the land to a different job-growing industry could create sustainable growth for East Boston, truly creating more sustainable business for area restaurants and shops. All I want is more of the Eastie we love, and less of the Eastie we don’t care for.

A casino in East Boston will probably be like my cousin’s ex-boyfriend: a slick guy, a fast car, and a gold card: someone who promises a lot and doesn’t deliver. My advice to her: “You can do much better than him.”

Eastie, we can do better than a casino.

Giordana Mecagni is resident of Trenton Street in East Boston.

Anti-gambling group steps up campaign

Australian anti-gambling group steps up campaign

The campaign launch comes after strong indications that the Australian Government is backing away from Independent MP Andrew Wilkie's poker machine reform plan. [ABC]

Australian anti-gambling campaigners are stepping up their campaign to overhaul the country's poker machine laws, amid increasing signs the Australian Government appears to be backing away from its deal to force gamblers to set betting limits.

The issue has prompted widespread public debate about the social cost of poker machines, particularly in low income areas.

The Australia Institute has commissioned research which shows the cost to implement mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines is likely to be less than $US350 million.

But gaming industry body Clubs Australia is standing by its estimate that the changes will cost clubs $3 billion to implement.

Meanwhile, a coalition of anti-gambling groups will send one million letters to homes in marginal electorates across the country, arguing in favour of mandatory pre-commitment technology.

The technology would force gamblers to set limits on the amount of money they are prepared to lose before playing electronic gaming machines.

The Australian Government signed a deal to implement the technology with the Independent Member of Parliament Andrew Wilkie soon after the 2010 federal election, in return for his support to form minority government.

Mr Wilkie says he will withdraw his support if the changes are not legislated by May 8.

But the deal has sparked a backlash among voters in marginal electorates and it is not clear if the proposed changes would win enough support from the other independent MPs who hold the balance of power.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has repeatedly refused to reaffirm her support for the plan.

On Thursday, the Families Minister Jenny Macklin gave the strongest indication yet that the proposed changes will not go ahead.

"We will not be walking away from problem gamblers, we are committed to act to help problem gamblers but we have to act with the parliament that we have," she said.

The Opposition opposes mandatory pre-commitment technology and says problem gamblers should be offered counselling and voluntary pre-commitment instead.

Ms Gillard's minority government is no longer reliant on Andrew Wilkie's support to stay in power, after the election of former opposition MP Peter Slipper to the Speaker's chair in November increased the government's votes in the lower house.

Casinos Killed Jobs in Illinois

Casinos Killed Jobs in Illinois
by Rick Stone

Of several forums that have already taken place over the last two months, this was probably the most comprehensive. Rhetoric at the previous forums, in the absence of hard data, was limited to visceral fears, high hopes and marketing. This gathering, with it multiple panels of academic, professional and technical experts, had some of that…but also some benefit of experience from other states. University of Illinois economics professor John Kindt said when casino developers came to his state, they promised thousands of jobs. But a subsequent federal study of jobs created by Illinois’ 10 casinos came to a strange conclusion:

Nine out of 10 had actually been taking jobs out of the economy. The tenth had been stealing jobs from Kentucky.

Why was that? Kindt says because gambling is a siphon that takes job creating money right out of the economy. Kindt appeared on the “social and workforce impacts” panel, seated next to Michael Pollock, managing director of the Spectrum Gaming Group, which provides consulting, data and professional services to gambling operators. When the topic turned to crime, Pollock had to agree: crime HAD gone up in post-casino Atlantic City. Atlantic City.

Before casinos there was nothing there to steal.

As the laughter died away, Pollock said much of the increase in crime was in such things as pick-pocketing and casino-specific crimes. But fellow panel member Pat Fowler disagreed. She’s executive director of the Florida Compulsive Gamboling Council and she said gambling addiction is closely related to serious crime.

About 37 percent of the people who call the help line indicate they have committed some sort of illegal act to fund their gambling addiction.

And it’s not just pick pocketing. She said addicted gamblers accumulate an average debt of 42 thousand dollars and many resort to fraud and embezzlement to replenish their bank accounts…and those are not crimes that are monitored to show the effects of gambling. Other experts on other panels cautioned against committing to casino gambling before all the facts are in. One of those facts may be…what happens in Cuba? Restaurateur Steve Haas — former chairman of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau – says his big fear is that the communist government will collapse and the former party capital of the western hemisphere may come back and spoil Florida’s gambling renaissance.

“Everyone is going to run to Cuba! In a year the infrastructure of Havana will be changed, it will grow fast. And then what happens to Miami and Miami beach?”

Two South Florida legislators are sponsoring a bill that would authorize perhaps three two billion dollar resort casinos in South Florida. The Legislature will take up the bill during the session that begins next month.

County officials criticize casino plan

County officials criticize casino plan for failing to protect local jobs

An array of opponents, from South Florida to the state capital, has lined up swiftly in response to proposed legislation to bring gigantic “destination resort” casinos to South Florida, despite promises of economic development and an infusion of jobs.

The Miami-Dade County Commission was ready to slice the bill to shreds earlier this week as it spent three hours reviewing it and getting public reaction. Meanwhile, others criticized the bill as too light on regulation and incomplete when it comes to policing casinos.

The County Commission decided to send a letter to the sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Erik Fresen and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, demanding they give local government more control over the mega-resorts, allow the county to get a share of the revenue, and carve out protections for the region’s pari-mutuel industry. Absent that, the bill could face their collective opposition, commissioners warned.

“What this means is that you have no say,’’ Commission Chairman Joe Martinez told his colleagues after the county attorney read summaries of the bill. “What this means is that the money does not stay here.”

Dave Ramba, a lobbyist for the Broward County-based Seminole Tribe, questioned why the bill took two months to produce since legislators left the job of writing the regulatory rules to a new seven-member State Gaming Commission and a new Department of Gaming Enforcement.

“They spent a lot of time on the creation of more government and very little time on what the commission’s job is going to be,’’ he said.

But Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, and Fresen, a Miami Republican, said Friday their intent was not to release a perfect bill but to get the conversation started and have the debate over modifications aired in the open.

“I anticipated I would have to wear a bull’s-eye on my back — as well as Rep. Fresen — because there will be 100,000 people shooting at this bill,’’ Bogdanoff told the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau.

Senate President Therese Murray: Wrong, in her own words

In Pennsylvania, less than 1,000 jobs were created in each of the Slot Barns. Many of those are part-time, no separate statistics are available, no wage statistics are available:

To date, with nine of a maximum fourteen casinos in operation, legalized gaming in the Commonwealth [of Pennsylvania] has created over 8,000 new living wage jobs

From: Phony Beacon Hill Numbers

Murray, meanwhile, told the Cape Cod Times over the weekend that she believed slot machines "suck all the economic environment from within 20 miles, and you really don't get any jobs from it."

From: "Cha Ching" Murray: SLOTS suck $$$ from economy

...Senate President Terry Murray admitted in a speech last week reported by the State House News Service, casinos pose a serious threat to existing businesses and cultural institutions.

From:
Casinos Will Also Destroy Jobs And Revenue

Below is a totally incorrect statement by the Senate President regarding Tribal Slot Barns. There is no trust land in any of the original 13 colonies. There can the no Tribal Slot Barn without Trust Land.

The Aquinnah have state owned land as a result of a Settlement Act.

The 1983 settlement agreement that led to federal recognition of the Wampanoags, was signed by the tribe, the Gay Head Taxpayers Association (since renamed the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association Inc.), the town, and the state. It specifically provides that the settlement lands shall be subject to all federal, state, and local laws, including town zoning laws, state and federal conservation laws, and the regulations of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.


See: Gay Head, Aquinnah Tribe and Silly Season gets even sillier


Totally wrong and uninformed, in her own words:
Senate President Therese Murray said yesterday that a new directive from the federal government makes Native American gambling parlors all but inevitable in Massachusetts, whether or not state lawmakers authorize full-fledged casinos.

From: Dumb and Dumber


Costs are ignored:
Attorney General Martha Coakley recently -

...warned lawmakers that the cost of making it happen may be larger than anticipated. New regulations must be drawn up and new agencies created to enforce the regulation, she said.

From:
Massachusetts: Rushing Off A Cliff


VIDEO: Murray insists casinos will bring jobs
State House News Service


BOSTON — Before the Senate resumed its debate over expanded gambling for a fifth day Tuesday, Senate President Therese Murray took issue with new claims by opponents that casinos would not produce the jobs promised and would cripple the Lottery.

"You know what? If you don't have a job and there will be jobs created, I would think you would want the job and an opportunity to apply for one of those jobs. Whether its 10,000 or 15,000 jobs, it's a job and it's rather elitist to say these aren't good jobs. They're jobs with benefits and they're jobs that pay you a salary," Murray told reporters as she headed into the Senate chamber for the start of the debate Tuesday afternoon.

Murray also took issue with the suggestion by gambling opponents that the bill being debated has been driven by "special interests."

In a statement, former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger on Tuesday said, "The public is being sold a bill of goods and our new analysis should blow the rose-colored glasses off proponents and force them to rethink this poor excuse for economic development and local aid. Those lining up behind this bill must be doing it to support some other constituency because the numbers being thrown around by proponents simply don't add up."

Murray said the only special interest she is responding to are those residents still unemployed.

"Tell me where the special interest is. The people who don't have jobs? Are they special interests? I think so. And that's why we're doing this," Murray said. Citizens for a Stronger Massachusetts released a new analysis Tuesday morning done by gambling opponents that called House and Senate job estimates from gaming “wildly optimistic.”

The report suggested that expanded gambling would diverting between $700 million and $1.3 billion from household spending to casinos, killing between 5,700 and 10,600 Massachusetts jobs. The report also said that casinos would cannibalize the state Lottery, which provides a significant amount of local aid to cities and towns, leading to 5 percent to 10 percent decline in Lottery revenue.

Many Firmly Opposed to Expanded Gaming Bill

Folks may support Slot Barn legislation that just passed the House on September 14th, until the potential of it being in the backyard appears. NIMBY!

Former Senator Sue Tucker called it right.

Many Firmly Opposed to Expanded Gaming Bill
The Hopkinton Board of Selectmen held the first of several public hearings on the expanded gaming bill and the effects its' passage would have on Hopkinton.

By Faith Mayer

The crowd was small, but the opinions from those who attended were large.

The fifteen or so in attendance as well as all five selectmen are firmly against an expanded gaming bill that could potentially bring a casino to Milford. There was not one voice in the room in favor of the bill's passage.

"I have been oppossed to casino gambling for years," Selectman Brian Herr said. "This hasn't and won't change."

Selectman Benjamin Palleiko is also firmly opposed noting that he has three main reasons for his feelings, but one that sticks out.

"The bill is proposed as a way to create jobs," Palleiko said. "That is not the case. This is all about money and the state making more of it. I am terribly troubled that this seems to be a fait accompli and there is no iron clad protection for us and towns like us."

Representative, Carolyn Dykema noted that 81 votes are needed for this bill to pass the house. She believes today, that is the case.

"I will vote against it," Dykema said. "But I believe there are 81, if not more than 81 who will vote in favor. My focus is on making sure that our concerns around mitigation are heard by the licensing board."

Former Chairman of the Selectmen RJ Dourney said that as a local business owner he will organize a group and make a lot of noise against this.

"We will have all of the down side and none of the up side," Dourney said. "Our pride of community will be eroded. We must protect ourselves from the surrounding communities. If East Boston wants gaming, let them have it. We are not going to be quiet neighbors."

Nancy Barron agrees.

"I think gambling destroys lives,' Barron said. "I thought Las Vegas was horrible and I see no good coming of this. I will fight it, but if it comes to pass, I will put my house on the market and leave. No good can come of this, no good at all."

Mary Murphy, owner of Hooray for Books is also strongly opposed.

"We are better than that,"Murphy said. "I am extremely distressed that this seems to be a done deal. We are better than a casino. Go back, Carolyn and be the voice of reason."

If the bill does pass the next step will be for it to go to the governor for a signature. From there a licensing board will be formed and they will be the ones to hear community concerns.

"I will be very vocal with the licensing board as they are the ones who will hear us," Dykema said.

Many are astounded that we have come from the Massachusetts miracle to this.

"There is no value socially, economically or culturally," Chairman of the Selectmen Todd Cestari said. "We seem to have come to a period where we are not making anything. We produce less and this is another example of jumpstarting the economy without a tangible good. I also feel this is another tax on the poor, as it is not the rich who are in the casinos gambling."
Dymeka strongly encouraged all in attendance and in the community to reach out to their legislatures and tell them how opposed they are to this bill's passage.

"There is a lot of public support for this bill," Dykema said. "You need to use your voice to reach out to your friends and your networks."

The selectmen are expected to hold other forums on this topic in the coming weeks.

"Casino" Gambling: No Economic Growth, Jobs Lost

Hold that bet, Mr. Cuomo


Governor Cuomo, normally so thoughtful and disciplined, seemed a bit more like a gambler himself when he said last week that New York needs to consider the further legalization of casinos.

Gambling is here already, he was saying. And it's in neighboring states, too, notably Connecticut and New Jersey.

So why not double down here, he was suggesting. In a for a dime, in for a dollar. Such are the possibilities to which he's now open.

Mr. Cuomo does make the point that the days of saying that there's no place for government-supported gambling are past.

"It's really not an issue anymore of 'Well, if we don't officially sanction it as a government, it's not going to happen,'" he says. "It is happening."

True enough. Upstate New York has five Indian-operated casinos. There are slot machines at eight, soon to be nine, of the state's racetracks. A hastily passed 2001 law, and a subsequent court decision upholding that law, long ago made a mockery of the state constitution's ban on slot machines.

The result is that New York gets substantially more of its revenue (3 percent) than the national average (2.4 percent) from gambling, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. And now Mr. Cuomo has made it clear that he's at least open to the idea of amending that constitution to remove any obstacles to commercial, non-Indian casinos.

Staunch opponents of gambling would, of course, urge the governor to fold. But all New Yorkers would be wise to urge him to pause. It's time to ask again what removing constitutional restrictions to casinos would mean for New York. How much more gambling would be too much?

That puts a burden on the forces -- particularly the owners of the so-called racinos and their slot machines -- urging the governor to support a constitutional amendment to allow more casinos.

Let's await the economic impact study the racino operators plan to give Mr. Cuomo next month. Let's compare previous research on the economic benefits of casinos with the prediction by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Westchester County, chairman of the Racing and Wagering Committee, that the further legalization of casinos would be an economic boon for New York.

There's not much evidence supporting the notion that casinos pay off that way, certainly not over the long term. Typically, they'll produce a notable increase in revenue in their first year or two of operation before leveling off sharply, says Robert Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute.

"The casino industry does not have an impact on economic growth at the state level," concludes a 2007 study by economics professors Douglas Walker of the College of Charleston and John Jackson of Auburn University. "The average state should not expect any long-term growth effects from legalizing casino gambling."

That, however, fails to consider the costs of casino gambling. Research by John Kindt, a business professor at the University of Illinois, concludes that nationwide, 1.5 jobs are lost for every job casinos create.

Maybe, then, five casinos already, along with slot machine at the racetracks, are quite enough. Maybe the governor who's open to amending the constitution to allow more casinos should think again.


THE ISSUE:

The governor considers allowing more casinos.

THE STAKES:

Is that what's best for New York?