Massachusetts casino bill dead for now
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Massachusetts won’t have any casinos — or an online gambling and poker ban — any time soon.
Governor Deval Patrick’s bill that would have licenses three casinos in the commonwealth and would have made online wagering illegal has been sent to a study committee by a 106-48 by the House of Representatives. That means the bill can’t come back up for debate or a vote for at least another year.
According to an Associated Press story on Forbes.com:
‘Members of the House withstood incredible pressure from the deep-pocketed gambling industry, unions and the governor’s office,’ House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said. ‘The cost of creating a casino culture is too high.’
DiMasi argued expanded gambling would drain revenues from other businesses and increase personal bankruptcies, petty crimes and other social ills. On Wednesday, the Boston Democrat engineered a 10-8 committee vote against the measure that members expected would turn out to be far closer than the final vote against the bill.
Several efforts by supporters to save the bill at the eleventh hour failed. The motion to send the bill back to committee –which may have altered the bill and brought it back up for debate and a vote this year — was defeated by a margin of 111-41.
