Casinos

Background on the Issue

(or you can go straight to Sample Arguments Against and In Favor)

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Middleborough won federal recognition in 2007 and immediately began plans to build a resort casino, complete with golf course. The plan included applying to place 539 acres in Middleborough into federal trust, effectively granting them sovereignty over new land. This process often takes years to get through the Department of Interior. Also, a casino built on such property would be governed by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, with the federal secretary of the Interior serving as the final authority on negotiations.

Governor Deval Patrick has since submitted a 125-page objection to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for several reasons, including: loss of control over traffic, public safety, and zoning; reduced casino revenue for the state; reduced value of any future state licenses for casinos; and lack of labor and environmental protection provisions.

Last September, Governor Patrick submitted a proposal for state-licensing of three resort-style casinos, with a bidding preference to Indian tribes in Massachusetts. His emphasis is on creating new jobs that pay living wages, and he estimates that the proposal will create 20,000 permanent jobs. These new jobs would be part of approximately $2 billion in economic activity stimulated by the casinos along with 30,000 construction jobs and all the services that would support those workers and future customers. Governor Patrick estimates that the casinos would generate $400 million a year in revenue for the state. He has indicated that the new revenue would be spent on transportation infrastructure and property tax credits.

Some questions remain about potential social costs (e.g. increase gambling addiction), when the region will reach market saturation (i.e. there are several proposed casinos in neighboring states), and how extensive will the "substitution effect" be (i.e. people and industry simply changing where they eat, etc. rather than spending new dollars).

Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders have said they would pursue a casino license under the governor's proposed legislation, but given the political uncertainty of the proposal, which has not yet been taken up in the House, the tribe is continuing to pursue the federal trust option.

Currently, 34 of the 50 states have legalized gambling; those states derive somewhere between .05 and .75 of one percent of their total state revenue from casinos.

In January 2008 Governor Patrick released his budget which includes a proposal for using $124 million in casino licensing revenues to make up for the gap between the level of lottery payments made to cities and towns in FY08 and the lottery revenue expected to be available in FY09. 

In March 2008 the House of Representatives voted against allowing casinos in Massachusetts.

Sample Arguments Against

  • Casinos do not solve budget problems. For example, New Jersey has 17 casinos and still had a fiscal crisis in 2006.
  • Revenue estimates are too high because they do not take into account the new casinos that will be built in New Hampshire and Rhode Island if MA builds. Furthermore, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island pay higher taxes in part because they need to make up for the unmet revenue needs that were promised by their casinos.
  • Casinos lower a region's standard of living by attracting lots of low wage casino jobs and merely act as a jobs transfer and not a job creator.
  • One out of every 20 people (5%) would become a problem gambler as a result of this initiative. That's 250,000 people, not including the family members and friends of those addicted who will also experience negative consequences. This is in addition to the approximately 250,000 people already suffering from gambling addiction in the Commonwealth.
  • Our safety net structures will be strained even further as addiction leads to child neglect, crime, distressed families, suicide and bankruptcy.
  • Resort casinos would suck the life out of small businesses and restaurants.
  • Casinos in rural areas leave a huge carbon footprint as hundreds of people will drive to get there and are anti-“smart growth.”

For additional information see:

Mass Council of Churches
Casino Facts
Casino Free Mass

Sample Arguments In Favor

  • The casino resorts proposal addresses current budget difficulties, including the need for critical transportation upkeep.
  • The resorts are required to build any new infrastructure needed.
  • The Governor’s proposal guarantees a regular annual revenue stream to the host and surrounding communities—before any proceeds to the state—to cover the cost of public safety and other ongoing impacts.
  • The proposal dedicates 2.5% of state gaming revenues to prevent and treat compulsive gambling, as well as drug and alcohol abuse and other related public health concerns, the largest such allocation anywhere in the country.
  • The casino resort plan will generate $2 billion annually in new economic activity and net operating revenue to the state of $400 million each year plus $600-$900 million in initial licensing fees.
  • The proposal would create more than 20,000 jobs with a living wage (in several sectors) and 30,000 construction jobs which in turn will generate another $50-80 million in new tax revenue.
  • AFL-CIO, Massachusetts Teachers Association, UNITE HERE and Teamsters Local 25 have all endorsed the proposal.

For additional information see:

Governor of Massachusetts’ Budget
Press Release from the Office of the Governor
Massachusetts Coalition for Jobs and Growth