July 30, 2010

Mass Governor Close to Signing Casino Bill

It looks like the end of the month and session is here to decide on casinos in Massachusetts, and now the governor is backing down on no slots at racetracks. I'm not sure why he thinks that would be a bad idea, given the tracks are already gambling places. We'll see how this turns out in the next 24 hours.

In a significant shift in his public position, Governor Deval Patrick said this afternoon that he would sign a casino gambling bill with one slot parlor and three full-scale casinos if legislators agreed to break a "logjam" on other unrelated measures.

Patrick has previously said he opposed slot parlors at racetracks and reiterated Wednesday that they would not provide as much economic benefit as full-scale casinos. But, in challenging the Legislature today, he said he was willing to accept one slot parlor if it was competitively bid and the process was transparent, provided legislators move about a half dozen bills -- including some related to crime, health care costs and economic development -- in the final 48 hours of the session.

Via MetroDesk - The Boston Globe