As the Northeast U.S. gambling market becomes increasingly saturated, lawmakers in New Hampshire are again looking to get in on the action.
In a 13-11 vote this week, the Senate narrowly passed a bill allowing two casinos sharing a total of 5,000 video slot machines and 240 table games to generate $120 million in initial licensing fees and a cut from gaming revenues thereafter.
The bill passed by the Senate would establish a New Hampshire Gaming Commission to license up to two casinos for a ten-year period. The state government's cut would be 35 percent of gross slot machine revenue and 18 percent of gross table game revenue.
Last year, the House killed a similar bill, as the issue has become a perennial one in New Hampshire.
Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan has previously voiced support for a single casino to bring new revenue into the state, but it is unclear whether she will support the measure as approved by the Senate this week.
Throughout New England, which in 2010 had a total population of approximately 14.4 million people, New Hampshire and Vermont are the only remaining states without legalized tribal or commercial casino gambling.
Massachusetts has already licensed MGM Resorts International to build an $800 million casino in Springfield; Wynn Resorts to build a $1.6 billion casino outside Boston in Everett; and Penn National Gaming to operate a $225 million slots parlor at the Plainridge Harness race track in Plainville. Additionally, the state is aiming to authorize a third commercial casino in the southeastern part of the commonwealth.
Connecticut, which currently has two tribal casinos, is eying opening up to three smaller casinos to fend off competition from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where an expansion of current casino amenities is planned for the same reason.
For a look at the bill, which will now be sent to the New Hampshire House, click here.
0 Comments
A close vote in the NH House went against the recently enacted buffer zone around abortion clinics: CONCORD — The House voted 170-159 to repeal the abortion clinic buffer zone law approved by lawmakers last year. Repeal supporters said the state law is nearly identical to the Massachusetts law the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional last year because it restricts Constitutional rights to free speech and assembly. Word comes by owl from the AP that House Republicans have passed several education bills recently, most prominently one to limiting the implementation of Common Core: The Republican-led House passed several bills Wednesday aimed at weakening aspects of the Common Core education standards and affirming the importance of local and parental control in education. High atop the stone tower of the NH Liberty News offices, newly elected representative Glen Aldritch was interviewed by the whistling wind about moving to NH and running for office. SLN: What issues will you focus on as a State Rep? Newly elected representative Albert Abramson of Seabrook apparently throws the kind of parties that show up in police logs. John DiStaso at NH Journal sums up: CONCORD — House speaker Shawn Jasper said Tuesday he “just became aware this morning” that a newly elected state representative who was convicted of a felony for recklessly firing a gun in 2010 has been assigned to the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Shine on you crazy diamond.
NH Senator and Finance Chairman Jeannie Forrester wants to keep an eye on the bottom line, and sent this letter to her counterpart in the House: Dear Representative Wallner: Something tells me Forrester would like to have that information prior to, say, the general election campaign.
After a fall in state revenue during the first part of the year, everyone in Concord was nervous about the state's budget running out of money. Then the MET court ruling seemed likely to undermine finances even more by striking down a crucial revenue source. The picture looks much brighter now. June's revenue report was on target, and the MET lawsuit has been settled after hurried negotiations. Governor Hassan commented on the brighter picture, while politely pointing at the previous Republican legislature's tax changes to explain under performing revenue: June and fiscal year revenues appear close to on-target, driven primarily by a strengthening economy that has helped the meals and room tax and the real estate transfer tax make up for the underperformance in other areas. We continue to see shortfalls in business taxes and the interest and dividend tax, which appear to be related, at least in part, to a number of changes in the state tax code in recent years, as well as to businesses beginning to apply various tax credits and carry forwards accrued during the recession. The strong returns from the Business Enterprise Tax are a sign that New Hampshire businesses are creating jobs, and the Meals and Rooms Tax over performing for the month suggest the state’s summer tourism What's clear from these figures is that we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Thanks to the realistic estimates put in place by Republicans, revenues are in line with the Senate's budget. The real problem is that the Hassan Administration can't control spending. An attempt by some lawmakers to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision has been sent to the void. The campaign director for the difficult to chant Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People Campaign responded: It’s shameful. Today, because of roadblocks put up by 12 Republican New Hampshire senators, the Committee of Conference killed a measure (SB 307) calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and to curb the influence of money in politics. This violates the will of New Hampshire residents. A proposed bill to pressure those bringing suits for medical malpractice to accept settlement offers has died in the legislature: The idea behind early offers is to speed up medical malpractice cases before screening panels, which are supposed to be a cheaper alternative to litigation, but are being used less and less frequently. The Democratic led House has killed a proposal to turn over a portion of the State's budget surplus to the rainy day fund. Joshua Elliott-Traficante at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy summarizes: The current FY14-15 budget spends $30.5 million more on Health and Human Services than the House Budget proposed, when Uncompensated Care is removed. Revenue projections for the Medicaid Enhancement Tax (MET), which funds Uncompensated Care, were revised downwards in the Enacted Budget on the advice of HHS. Taking into account all back of the budget reductions, the Enacted Budget spends nearly $23.5 million more over the biennium than the House Budget in General Funds. Republican gubernatorial candidate Walter Havenstein panned the move: I commend Senate Republicans for their responsible attitude and for refusing to authorize spending based on this money. They are making tough choices while the Governor is failing to lead. This is yet another missed opportunity to put New Hampshire back on track to good fiscal health. It's another missed opportunity by Maggie Hassan to show leadership on the economy. We need a fiscally responsible leader in the Corner Office. That's why I'm running for Governor. Republican Senate Finance Chair Jeanie Forrester also frowned at the move: Our Rainy Day Fund balance is more than $130 million below the minimum level deemed adequate by bond rating agencies, and the fund balance currently stands at its lowest level in 22 years. The House’s continued refusal to take the practical step of transferring the prior year’s surplus into the fund ignores the advice of our State Treasurer, is detrimental to the fiscal health of our state, and does a disservice to our taxpayers. |