State gaming regulators see “the writing on the wall” in the House budget being debated this week and are beginning to contemplate what the future of their assistance to communities that host or are nearby casinos will look like.
Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature began last year to alter the distribution of gambling revenues to free up about $100 million to support other spending. Among the changes for fiscal 2025 was zeroing out new funding for the Community Mitigation Fund, which aids response efforts in communities that could potentially see increased traffic, crime or other impacts of nearby gambling facilities. Under the 2011 expanded gaming law, the CMF is supposed to receive 6.5% of the revenue from casino gambling.
