Casino Opening Date: Should NH Beat Mass?

Over the past few days, casino backers here have gone all giddy over the prospect of getting a New Hampshire casino opened before Massachusetts.

Can this be accomplished given Governor-elect Hassan's insistence that she will accept one and only one "high-end, highly-regulated" casino?

Let's look at the Massachusetts casino timeline:

• Nov 22, 2011: casino bill signed into law
• Oct 15, 2012: Gaming Commission adopts strategic plan for regulation (1 year)
• February, 2014: first casino license issued (2¼ years)
• Mid 2017: first casino opens (5½ years) 

Read Massachusetts' casino regulation plan, 523 pages enumerating the details of exactly what steps are required if casinos are to be highly (and properly) regulated.

Now, consider whether New Hampshire's recent history of sloppy gambling regulation warrants short changing or eliminating any of these steps: 

• The New Hampshire state auditor found in 2005 that the NH Pari-Mutuel Commission (PMC) had engaged in a multi-year pattern of self-dealing, evasion of legislative budget authority, and sloppy recordkeeping (audit summary, full report).
• In 2005, the PMC failed even to detect a $200 million, multi-year Gambino crime family illegal gambling and money-laundering operation at the Belmont greyhound track.
• In 2005 Belmont resident Randall Noe plead guilty to running a drug trafficking ring and laundering the profits through gambling at the Belmont track.
• In 2008, the PMC failed to prevent the bankrupt owners of the Hinsdale track from taking over one-half million dollars in customer money from their gambling accounts. 

Rush Plan To Get Casino License Dollars

So, is it either wise or prudent to accept Senator Lou D'Allesandro's rush plan to get a New Hampshire casino opened in 1½ years?

Absolutely not. Even if you are willing to hold your nose and overlook the consequential, addiction, crime, and cannibalization of jobs and revenues from thousands of surrounding local business, it is reckless and irresponsible to include any casino license money in New Hampshire's 2014-15 biennial state budget.

Best Regards,

Jim Rubens

Chair, GSCAEG