New Hampshire casino supporters urge House committee to back bill

“I don’t want to go into an enormous diatribe. You’ve heard it over and over again,” said Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat and the bill’s prime sponsor. “What I’m saying to you is this piece of legislation benefits all of the people in the state of New Hampshire. As a public official, that’s my goal – to produce something that has benefit for everyone.”

D’Allesandro’s bill is the final piece of casino legislation to come before the House this year. The House killed a one-casino bill earlier this year on a recommendation from the Ways and Means Committee. During yesterday’s hearing, supporters said the revenue sharing is a significant and positive difference in this bill.

But opponents of casinos said the Legislature has already spoken on the issue, this year and for the past 15 years casino gambling has been debated. D’Allesandro has been championing a casino as a new source of revenue for years.

“This gambling bill is a way for homeowners to get tax relief,” said John Lydon of Salem. But opponents pointed out that the Legislature suspended the aid program when it needed money during the recession and that could happen again.

“It’s like giving a dog a bone and taking it away,” said Will Stewart, speaking against the bill for the Greater Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce. Stewart said including the aid “is a nice bribe.”

Cordell Johnston, a lobbyist for the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said his organization isn’t taking a position on casinos, but would like to see revenue sharing restored. “The revenue sharing is merely a statutory change and like any other statutory change can be repealed at any time,” he said.
The committee is considering a Senate bill to legalize two casinos sharing a total of 5,000 video slot machines and 240 table games. The House killed a bill a month ago that would have legalized a single casino licensed to have 5,000 video slot machines. House gambling supporters had talked of adding the us$ 25 million in aid to the House bill had it survived.

Senate President Chuck Morse of Salem urged the committee to support the bill, but added that the Senate is willing to work on a compromise with the House to get something passed.

Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, said the speedway would be interested in bidding on a casino license as a way to draw people to the facility year round. Currently, he said the track is open from April to November and draws 400,000 people to events, which include two NASCAR races.

“As any good business, we’ve got to look at additional revenue sources,” he said.

The Concord Monitor reported Thursday that Loudon residents would be the first to determine the future of a casino at the resort.
State Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, who closely analyzes gambling votes, predicted the bill would fail when it reached the House floor if it was not changed. “If you’re going to pass something, the state needs to get more (of the proceeds),” said Vaillancourt.

Vaillancourt also said doubling the number of casino licenses isn’t enough to eliminate concerns about the state creating a monopoly. He proposed adding a third casino or more to win more votes.

Supporters of the House bill estimated the state would get about US$105 million in annual revenue from the one casino. The Lottery Commission estimates two casinos as proposed in the Senate bill would generate about US$168 million for the state and about us$ 480 million for the two license holders when fully operating.

Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, has repeatedly said she supports only one casino. Hassan and other casino supporters have said they believe New Hampshire should legalize a casino to capture gambling profits that otherwise will be spent in Massachusetts, which is licensing three casinos and one video slots parlor.