New gambling bill favorable to Hudson

Now that the last of the Super Bowl square sheets has been discarded into the appropriate trash receptacle, it’s time for New Hampshire residents to turn their attention to gambling talk of another kind.

That’s because the new expanded gambling bill (SB 489) – all 38 pages of it – has been introduced into committee by Senate Finance Chairman Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, and scheduled for its initial public hearing early next month.

And for those of you wondering if the bill contains language specific to the construction of a resort casino complex in Hudson – like the $300 million Sagamore Crossing proposal that was floated last year by the owners of the Green Meadow Golf Club – the answer to that question would appear to be only a slightly ambiguous “yes.”

While the 16,957-word bill never once mentions Hudson by name, it permits the construction of one “destination golf resort and convention center” in the state’s southern tier, which it later defines as “a town along the Massachusetts border in Hillsborough county.”

All told, the bill would legalize six casinos and up to 17,000 slot machines around the state, assuming the host communities voted to welcome them at a town meeting or a municipal election.

Besides the “destination golf resort” in Hudson, the bill would permit slot machines at racetracks in Belmont, Salem and Seabrook, as well as two sites in the North Country. It also would allow for casino table games at the Hudson and North Country facilities.

Other key provisions of the bill include:

n The establishment of a permitting process for table gaming and the video slot machines.

n The creation of a “gaming enforcement unit” within the Division of State Police.

n The distribution of video lottery revenues split among the state’s general fund, the host communities, the state’s alcohol and drug abuse treatment program, the fire standards and training and emergency medical services fund, the police standards and training council training fund, the Department of Transportation and the gaming operator.

n And the distribution of table gaming proceeds to the general fund and the gaming operator.

The state’s share of winnings would be set at 39 percent, down 10 points from last year’s bill, but still higher than the 25 percent rate in Connecticut and the 22 percent average tax rate for casinos in the United States.

Prior to introducing his bill, D’Allesandro was able to sign up nearly a dozen Senate and House members from both parties as co-sponsors, including several with ties to Greater Nashua.

Both of Nashua’s Democratic senators – Peggy Gilmour, of Hollis, and Bette Lasky, of Nashua – agreed to co-sponsor the bill, as did Rep. Jane Clemons, D-Nashua, and Rep. Lynne Ober, R- Hudson. Sen. Betsi DeVries, D-Manchester, whose district also includes Litchfield, is another co-sponsor of the bill, which is scheduled for a public hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on March 4 at 10:30 a.m. in Room 100 of the Statehouse.

As you may recall, The Telegraph reversed its longstanding opposition to expanded gambling in the state last spring, in response to budget problems driven by the recession. While it is not a perfect solution to the state’s budget woes, it is preferable to the enactment of a broad-based tax or placing an even heavier burden on the back of the state’s business community.

The potential creation of thousands of jobs during the construction and operation of these facilities – including some estimates of as many as 2,000 construction jobs tied to the Green Meadow project alone – is also difficult to ignore in today’s stagnant economy.

Remember: All this bill would do is lift the state’s restrictions on expanded gambling in a handful of cities and towns around the state; it doesn’t mandate it. That final decision would be up to the voters in those communities in the true spirit of local control.