Massachusetts Gambling Issues Boil Over As Wonderland Track Closes

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The battle over casino gambling in Massachusetts was one that became contentious in its later stages, and on Thursday the results of not getting anything done boiled over to the public. Wonderland Greyhound Park closed its doors after seventy-five years of operation.

Legislative leaders took turns playing the blame game as to why the track had to shut down. officials from the track claimed they could no longer compete with the facilities that allow casino gambling in neighboring states.

Governor Duval Patrick could have saved many jobs if he would have signed a compromised piece of legislation that lawmakers in the Senate and House signed off on last month. Instead, the governor sent the bill back to the legislature without slots for any of the state's tracks.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo had been pushing a bill that allowed tracks to operate up to 700 slot machines. Patrick and DeLeo had been feuding for months over the slots at the tracks, and now the fallout from not gaining a resolution is the loss of jobs.

"A little more than two weeks ago, Speaker DeLeo warned that anything less than Governor Patrick signing the compromise gaming bill...posed the risk that workers might be laid off," said Seth Gitell, a DeLeo aide, as reported by The Associated Press. "Now, regrettably, that warning has come to pass."

The governor, however, insisted that the possibility of economic collapse for Wonderland stared last year when voters decided to ban dog racing in the state. The track was forced to only carry simulcast betting after that vote.

"Let's be clear, the voters voted more than a year ago to end dog racing in Massachusetts," said Gov. Patrick. "And so it has been a concern of mine and others from the beginning how we make a way for those who are being displaced by that decision."

August 19, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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