CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Senators narrowly approved a bill to legalize two casinos Thursday, giving a perennial issue at the Statehouse a new shot at life.
The 13-11 vote was not drawn along party lines. The bill allows the state to license two casinos with table games and slot machines, bringing in a collective $120 million in revenue from initial license fees. The bill now moves to the House, which killed a nearly identical bill by a single vote last year. The lower chamber has never voted to legalize casinos.
Gov. Maggie Hassan is a vocal advocate of one casino but has not said whether she will sign a bill to legalize two. Casino supporters have long viewed them as a way to bring new revenue into the state without raising taxes. Supports also argue New Hampshire stands to lose money when Massachusetts opens casinos near the border that will draw New Hampshire residents.
Opponents of the bill are varied in their reasoning. Some more libertarian-minded politicians say the state shouldn’t regulate who can open a casino and who can’t. Other opponents say casinos would bring negative social costs and provide an unreliable form of state revenue.
Democratic Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a longtime casino advocate, said the bill will create thousands of temporary construction jobs and other permanent jobs.
“This is a real game changer in terms of economic recovery and it’s a real game changer in terms of jobs,” D’Allesandro said.
Hassan included casino revenue to balance her budget in 2013, but the Legislature removed it. She did not attempt it again in this year’s budget proposal.
Republican Sen. Jeanie Forrester, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the state should not be “hanging its hopes” on casino revenue.
“If you want to bring in gambling for entertainment that’s OK; don’t do it as a revenue source,” she said.
Beyond bringing in state revenue, the bill promises a collective $25 million to cities and towns for property tax relief. The casinos would operate under a strict regulatory structure developed last session, and the bill includes a fund f r gambling addiction treatment.
D’Allesandro said he is optimistic about the bill’s chance in the House but knows it will take persuasion.
“I think we’ve got to work it hard and hope for the best,” D’Allesandro said. “We’ve got a good shot.”
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
