Industry News
New Hampshire Legislature Seeks Gambling Compromise
An expected decrease in state tax revenues and ongoing concerns over education funding have gambling foes in New Hampshire fretting that state lawmakers there might reconsider "controlled" gambling this year, as it could generate taxes, and there is, throughout the state, widespread opposition to a new sales or income tax.
"You will face unprecedented pressure in this upcoming legislative session to find tough solutions to very, very intractable problems - and the siren song of easy, quick money," said Katrina Swett, the co-chairwoman of the Granite State Coalition against Expanded Gambling.
Gambling backers said casinos and video slots will "plug budget deficits" and bring more tourists to the state.
They also said the expansion would be a step in a state that already offers a variety of lottery games, including $20 lotto tickets.
Swett said expanding gambling is "the ultimate mirage and the ultimate bait-and-switch tactic."
The anti-gambling group this week held a lunch for lawmakers in the basement of St. Paul's Church in Concord, attracting a standing-room audience of roughly 125 people to listen to presentations from local and national anti-gambling advocates, including a New York billionaire and a Massachusetts lawmaker, who warned against the "social and political ills" of expanded gambling. Many in the room signed pledges afterward to oppose legalizing video slots or casinos; others were expanded-gaming supporters who wanted to hear the opposition's argument.
Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, a consistent advocate for "controlled gaming," didn't attend the forum, but he said afterward he hoped it wouldn't be the final word on gambling. D'Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat, said the state could collect up to $250 million a year in new revenue by offering video gambling at existing racetracks across New Hampshire and adding casinos at selected North Country hotels. Those ideas have never been a "slam dunk" in the past, he said, but his hopes have increased for 2007.
A 2000 study commissioned by then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen estimated New Hampshire could generate between $200 million and $250 million in additional government revenue in 2001 dollars. But the commission calculated that the social costs of gambling and the associated loss of lottery or racetrack revenue would render the actual windfall between $67 million and $178 million. The study found that figure would drop 60 percent if Massachusetts also expanded legalized gambling.
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