Gambling Bill Dies, Massachusetts Democrats Looking Bad

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The gambling issue in Massachusetts has been at the forefront of the legislative session that came to an end on Saturday. Instead of riding into the sunset, legislators may be left to explain why they spent months on an issue that will not be resolved.

Governor Duval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo are all Democrats and all in favor of gambling expansion. That the three leaders were unable to convince other members of their party to come together on the issue will serve as a black eye on all three of their political careers.

Governor Patrick has been pushing casino resorts since before he became the governor. In his first attempt to pass legislation allowing casino resorts last year, lawmakers denied the proposal. This year, it was assumed that with DeLeo as the new House Speaker, gambling legislation would have no problem passing.

DeLeo, however, has two racetracks in the district he represents that need financial assistance. The House Speaker began talking about gambling expansion, but only if slots were authorized at the tracks. He convinced other lawmakers in the House that slots at the tracks were a good idea, and a bill was passed.

Patrick and Murray were both against the slots. The Senate then crafted their legislation without the slot provision. When the two proposals came together, negotiators from the House and Senate began ironing out the details.

Last week, the negotiations were furious in the last week of the legislative session. By Saturday, all the lawmakers could come up with was a bill that included slots at two tracks. The bill did not allow for an open bidding for the slot parlors, instead allowing only the tracks to bid on the slots.

Patrick, who had previously compromised on one slot parlor, sent the bill back to legislators, this time without any slot parlors. That infuriated DeLeo, and brought the issue to where it stands today, unfinished, and looking dead for at least the rest of this year.

August 4, 2010
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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