Sure bet or fool's gold: State hearing airs casino views
1
BOSTON - Bob Gaudette, a western Massachusetts worker who hasn't had a job for nine months, says he's not alone in an economy devoid of construction jobs.
"You've got a lot of people in different building trades that have been out of work," he says.
Gaudette wasn't alone on Thursday either, as he joined fellow construction workers wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Palmer + Casino = Jobs" to a Statehouse hearing on legalized casino gambling. The possibility of a Palmer casino, proposed by the owners of Connecticut's Mohegan's Sun, strikes Gaudette as plain good sense.
"There's no reason why we shouldn't have a casino here so that people who want to gamble can gamble," he said.
The promise of jobs and additional state revenues dominated Thursday's hearing on some 16 separate bills dealing with legalized gambling in the state. As workers crowded the Statehouse's Gardner Auditorium, Robert Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said the new casinos would be an opportunity for the state.
"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs, and putting our people back to work," said Haynes. "This is one way to do it."
Developers from Mohegan Sun have proposed a site in Palmer for a casino resort, and have promised to hire unionized workers if the project gets off the ground. Mohegan Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Hartmann told the Joint Economic Development Committee the casino would create "high-quality jobs" in the Pioneer Valley and the Greater Springfield area.
Testifying for the governor, Greg Bialecki, secretary of Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, echoed the economic impact of casino gambling. "First and foremost we believe the primary focus of any expanded gaming proposal should be to spur economic development and create jobs," Bialecki told the committee.
But some legislators remain concerned that the casinos might actually cost more jobs than they'd save.
"You hear one side saying, what are we going to do? Are we going to lose local jobs? Are we going to lose small businesses and local businesses? There's been some evidence of that in other states," said Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley.
Rep. Steven D'Amico, D-Rehoboth, said the potential losses are too great. "It's a threat not just to local jobs, but to the local character of our communities," D'Amico said.
Scibak was also concerned that casinos would take away from the state lottery, which generates revenue for local aid.
"If we do generate revenue this way and at the same time see a 20 percent drop in lottery proceeds, what's the impact for that on cities and towns?" he asked.
Sen. Susan Tucker, D-Andover, said the cost of the bureaucracy needed to regulate the gaming industry could wipe out potential benefits to the state's budget.
"We need to know how much the new bureaucracy is going to cost to enforce the new laws that our attorney general said we must have before we even consider casinos," she told the committee.
Rep. Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, told a press conference before the hearing that gambling is destructive. "We are asking to sustain the Massachusetts economy based on an addiction that destroys lives and destroys families."
But proponents of expanded gambling see people traveling out of state to gamble, a sign that lifting restrictions could be a boon instead of a detriment.
"Last year, the residents of Massachusetts made 9.3 million trips outside of our borders for the purpose of gambling," said Rep. Brian Wallace, D-Boston.
Rep. Bill Bowles, D-Attleboro, says Massachusetts residents, particularly those in the southern part of the state, are often finding their way to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
"Gambling has risks, but right now we're incurring all those risks and the state's not deriving any of the revenue," said Bowles.
Steve Joyce, director of research for the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, says opening up restrictions will make the Bay State attractive to more people than just gamblers.
"There is opportunity for private developers to come to Massachusetts not asking for tax revenue, not asking for tax breaks, but willing to come here and pay for the opportunity to develop here in Massachusetts to create jobs," said Joyce.
