Attorney General Weighs In On Massachusetts Casino Debate

Lawmakers have been debating the casino gambling issue in Massachusetts for an entire legislative session and now Attorney general Martha Coakley has weighed in on the issue. Coakley made her remarks Monday to a Senate committee.

Among the ideas that were presented by Coakley were that laws in the state should be tightened before any gambling expansion was done. She claimed that the state needed to safeguard itself against money laundering, and criminal conspiracies that could be created along with legalized casino gambling.

"We cannot go zipping into this without considering those areas," said Coakley to the Senate committee she was appearing in front of. The gambling issue has once again become a popular one among lawmakers as Governor Duval Patrick was readying to sign the new state budget.

The budget comes with a heavy price for the people of Massachusetts. There will be a twenty-five percent sales tax increase to go along with many government services that have been cut. Patrick had warned that without the casino gambling revenue, the services were in jeopardy.

Opponents still believe that the budget deficit is no reason to expand gambling. They claim that there are other areas where the state can make up the revenue. Increasing taxes are always the first idea that comes to mind, although in this economy it is a tough time to be raising taxes on residents.

"The bottom line is they (lawmakers) need to come to a compromise on the gambling issue," said observer Mark Humbert, "because people in Massachusetts cannot afford to pay higher taxes, and the politicians should do everything in their power to help avoid that."

June 30, 2009
Posted By Vincent Tapoglia III
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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