Mass. House, Senate leaders agree to compromise on casino bill; Gov. Patrick threatens veto

Mass. legislative leaders OK deal on casino bill

BOSTON — Massachusetts House and Senate leaders agreed Friday to the state’s most sweeping expansion of gambling in four decades — drawing immediate criticism from Gov. Deval Patrick, who said he can’t sign the bill.

The bill would authorize three casinos and two slot machine parlors, the latter of which would be competitively bid upon by the state’s four racetrack owners.

Patrick told reporters late Friday that he was disappointed that the bill contained more than one slots parlor and that bidding was limited to the four racetracks. He said he couldn’t sign the bill in its current form.

Patrick, who had long opposed slot parlors, said Thursday that he could accept one provided it would be open to bid by anyone, to help break the legislative logjam.

“I was serious,” Patrick said Friday. “I didn’t agree to two. I didn’t say give me one and let’s talk. I said one.”

Lawmakers must approve the bill before formal sessions end at midnight Saturday.

The governor could veto the bill or send it back with amendments. That would require the Legislature to come back into a formal session to either override his veto or respond to his amendments. The Legislature could also vote to amend the compromise bill before voting on it.

Senate President Therese Murray had rejected a call by Patrick earlier in the week to extend the formal session beyond Saturday if needed.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he hoped Patrick would reconsider his opposition once he looked at the bill in detail.

“The governor is a reasonable guy,” he said.

Under the bill, the state would receive $85 million from each of the casino licenses and $20-$25 million from the licenses for the racetrack slot parlors, also known as racinos. Each of the two racinos would be allowed to have between 1,000 and 1,250 slot machines, depending on their location.

Patrick said that since two of the state’s racetracks — Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston — are pursuing a casino license, the two slot parlor licenses would automatically go to the state’s two remaining tracks.

“That leaves two tracks to compete for what would be two licenses,” he said. “That is not an open and competitive process.”

The bill was written in such a way that the governor cannot issue a line-item veto targeting the two racinos. He would have to issue an up-or-down veto on all of the gambling venues, including the three casinos, which he supports.

The bill would let the governor enter into a casino agreement with one of the state’s two federally recognized tribes. It would allow one casino in each of three geographic locations in the state, including the metropolitan Boston area, the western portion of the state and the state’s southeast region.

Supporters of the bill have estimated the casinos and racinos could bring in up to 15,000 new jobs and $400 million in annual revenues — some of which is already being spent at casinos and racinos in neighboring states.

Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, who once worked at Wonderland, said the bill will help protect those working at the state’s existing tracks.

“We’re telling them that they and their families matter,” said Reinstein, D-Revere.

Under the legislation, the city or town where the casino would be located would have to give its approval first.

The bill would also set aside revenues to help those addicted to gambling and create mitigation funds for communities that host casinos and to aid local cultural facilities that could be hurt by the competition from casinos.

The bill is a major victory for DeLeo, who has fought for slots as a way to save jobs at the four dying racetracks.

Two of the tracks, Suffolk Downs and Wonderland, are in the Democrat’s Winthrop-based district, and DeLeo’s father formerly worked at Suffolk.

The bill is a defeat for Patrick and Murray, both of whom opposed slots, saying they would undercut the licensing fees and job creation potential for the resort-style casinos.

Sen. Susan Tucker, D-Andover, a staunch gambling opponent, said the casinos and racinos will be a “total economic loser for Massachusetts.”

Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, another expanded gambling opponent, predicted the industry will only grow larger and the state will cater to any new demands of the gambling industry.

“You can’t regulate these interests,” she said. “They will talk their way out of everything.”

Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat who has been leading negotiations on behalf of the Senate, defended the decision to release the bill just before the Legislature adjourns for the year, giving lawmakers and the public only hours to review it before it comes to a final vote.

“Virtually everything that will be in a final bill has been discussed ad nauseam, actually some of it for years,” Rosenberg said. “There are going to be no surprises in this.”

The agreement comes after months of debate on Beacon Hill and days of shuttle diplomacy between DeLeo and Murray. The biggest dispute was over allowing slot machines at the racetracks.

A House bill called for two casinos and 750 slot machines at each of the four tracks. A Senate bill called for three casinos but no parlor.

Patrick initially had opposed any slot parlors, but on Thursday said he would consider signing off on one if lawmakers approved a slew of other pending bills.

Gambling opponents complained about even that concession, saying it betrayed Patrick’s past statements about the social costs and job concerns attached to slot parlors.

“It is beyond disappointing that this ‘different kind of leader’ would abandon such core values and core supporters to make a deal in this election year in such an obvious, old-school Beacon Hill quid pro quo,” said former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, the Democrats’ 1998 gubernatorial nominee.