Politics & Government

On Casino Stalemate, Clark and Tisei Weigh In

Legislators positions have shifted since 2008, when the debate over casino legislation first began on Beacon Hill.

Melrose's state delegation is split on casinos, as the standoff between Gov. Deval Patrick and the Legislature continues.

Patrick has supported casinos but opposed slot machines, the latter of which were not included in the Senate casino bill, while the House bill authorized 3,000 slot machines spread across the state's four racetracks. During negotiations on a compromise bill, Patrick said that he would approve one slot machine parlor, as long as an open bid process awarded the slot machine license.

However, on Saturday — the last day of the legislative session — the Legislature approved a compromise bill that approved three casino licenses and two slot machine licenses that would be bid on by the four state racetracks. Patrick responded that because two of the state's racetracks — Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Suffolk Downs horse track in East Boston — have plans to pursue casino licenses, the two remaining tracks would win the slot machine licenses by default, negating any open bid process.

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On Monday, Patrick said he would send an amended bill back to the Legislature that removes any slot machines licenses and rescinded his compromise of allowing one slot parlor.

Meanwhile, Melrose's state legislators own views on casinos have evolved since 2008, when Patrick's first proposal to issue three casino licenses failed to pass in the House and subsequently never reached the Senate floor.

Find out what's happening in Melrosewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, voted against the casino bill in 2008 — only a week after she was first sworn in — citing concerns about the bill not including any protection for local aid in case lottery revenues fell in the wake of the casinos' approval.

Two years later, after a fiscal crisis that devastated the economy, Clark voted in favor of both the House casino bill in April and the compromise bill sent to the governor's desk on Saturday. She said the recession created an urgent need to create jobs, acknowledging that the hard-hit construction industry would only see a short-term improvement from the construction of new casinos, "but they do create jobs," and added that Massachusetts residents' spending in Rhode Island and Connecticut casinos rose 5.6 percent in the middle of the recession.

"Most important, for me, was the bill that came before the House is almost all aimed at local aid," Clark said. "I was able to get an amendment in there (also included in the compromise bill) around education that said that any revenues that came in would have to be in addition to what the state was currently spending. I didn't want any sleight of hand where the state says, 'Oh, we have a new revenue source, let's bring down what we're expending into Chapter 70 for school funding.'"

On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield, who represents Melrose Wards 1-5, supported the governor's casino proposal in 2008, although he never got to cast a vote on the bill because it never reached the Senate floor. He also cast doubts two years ago, despite his support of the governor's proposal, on the projected revenue the casinos would bring in for the state.

Last month, Tisei voted against both the Senate casino bill and the compromise bill, saying that he would prefer to see the state take a slower, "more deliberative" approach of approving one casino license and "maybe a couple" of slot machine licenses, instead of the five gambling venues that would be allowed under the compromise bill. He said that legislators have discussed expanded gambling as a way to jump start the economy and help solve the state's fiscal problems.

"Nothing could really be further from the truth," Tisei said. "Gaming should be debated as a separate issue and not intermingled with the others. At the end of the day ... these (casinos and slot machine parlors) aren't going to solve the state's fiscal crisis. They aren't going to do anything to improve the state's business climate. Our problems are more deep seated."

Legislators have said that the casino bill before the governor would create 15,000 jobs, $300 million in one-time licensing revenue and $400 million annually after the casinos and slot machine parlors are up and running, but Tisei argued that those estimates are overly optimistic.

On the revenue side, he said creating five gambling venues would dilute the amount of revenue realized by those venues. On the jobs estimate, Tisei said it does not factor in jobs that would be lost, saying that when casinos have opened in other states, businesses such as bowling alleys, other recreation revenues and restaurants have suffered.

"Take for example the North Shore Music Theatre," Tisei said. "They just reopened and, financially, they've had a difficult run. How are they going to be able  to compete with some of the entertainment venues that are included as part of the casino? ... I think we would have been better off looking at lowering cost of doing business in Massachusetts. If you want to get people to work, the easiest way is to lower the cost of doing business in Massachusetts and reviewing our regulatory policies to encourage small businesses to hire people again."

Now both legislators are waiting to see if the Legislature will be reconvened to act upon on the governor's amended bill, or whether the stalemate over slot machines will continue.

Clark said that the slot machines are "controversial" and that they would provide some quick revenue and relief for local communities.

"But it is not a long-term solution; it will not create as many jobs as a destination casino," she said. "We'll just have to wait and see what the governor's next move is and whether the Legislature will come back in to help address it and move the issue on."

Tisei said he did not mind "a couple" of slot machine parlors, but sided with Patrick in calling for an open bidding process for the slot machine licenses, which would maximize how much revenue the state could receive.

"At the end of the day, you want to get as much revenue as you can for the state," he said. "Ultimately, again, having one casino and a couple of slot venues makes a lot more sense than having five (gambling venues) around the state."

A call to Sen. Tom McGee, D-Lynn, who represents Melrose Wards 6 and 7, was not returned.


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