Lawmakers propose three casinos, one slot parlor as gambling plan emerges

By Michael Levenson and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

House and Senate leaders today proposed building three sprawling casinos in three regions of the state as well as a fourth gambling hall with up to 1,250 slot machines, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by the Globe.

The 133-page bill would require developers to invest a minimum of $500 million per casino and specifies that each casino must also include a hotel. Licenses for the casinos would be auctioned off at a starting price of $85 million.

The slot-parlor license would be sold for a minimum bid of $25 million and the state would require $125 million in investments for that facility.

Anyone applying for a gambling license would have to pay the state a $350,000 non-refundable application fee.

The casinos would pay the state 25 percent of their revenues; the slot parlor would pay the state 40 percent of its revenue and another 9 percent to a special fund for the horse-racing industry.

A quarter of the state’s casino revenue would be sent to cities and towns, to help them preserve jobs and municipal services. The state would send another 5 percent to a special fund to help compulsive gamblers.

The casinos and slot parlor would be smoke-free. In the past, gambling supporters have chafed at that rule, arguing that casinos need to attract smokers to keep gamblers from traveling to out-of-state casinos that allow smoking.

The bill attempts to combat the corruption that has historically cropped up around casinos. It would establish a new “gaming enforcement” unit of the State Police and a five-member commission to oversee the casinos.

The governor would appoint the chairman of the commission; the state treasurer and attorney general would each appoint one member; the remaining two members would be selected by the commission itself. The panel would, among other duties, investigate prospective casino developers to ensure they have “integrity, honesty, [and] good character.”

The panel would also be allowed to ban gamblers with “notorious or unsavory reputations” to ensure casinos are “free from criminal or corruptive elements.”

The bill was developed behind closed doors by House and Senate leaders in consultation with Governor Deval Patrick’s staff. Few other lawmakers, even those who serve on the committee that drafted the legislation, have been included in the talks. Many said they had not seen the bill yet and were not even aware it was being released today.

But House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray today released a joint statement defending the process.

“Through public analysis and deliberation, it is our goal to pass a bill that is responsible to the public and does what is best for our economic interests,” DeLeo and Murray said. “We support this bill and believe that it provides a strongly regulated and commercially desirable framework for establishing a gaming industry in Massachusetts.”

In his own statement this afternoon, Patrick, whose staff worked with legislators to craft the bill, praised it. “If done right, expanded gaming in Massachusetts can create jobs, generate new revenue, and spur other economic growth in the state,” the governor said. “The bill being considered by the Joint Legislative Committee on Economic Development places appropriate limits on the expansion of gaming, requires open and transparent bidding, maintains a voice for local communities, and provides resources to address public health and safety – all principles I have insisted be a part of any gaming bill I support.”

Gambling opponents blasted the secrecy surrounding the process, and urged lawmakers to conduct an independent cost-benefit analysis before they vote on the legislation after Labor Day.

“Today’s release of all new casino legislation signals yet another milestone in Beacon Hill’s concerning slide deeper into a closed-door culture marked by little debate, less dissent and an even greater likelihood of improper influence,” former attorney general Scott Harshbarger, a leading gambling opponent, said in a statement today. “We had hoped that public outrage over a string of public corruption cases would have convinced the governor and legislative leaders to include public review, oversight and comment on this bill before it came out with their stamp of approval.”

For more background on the bill read the story from today’s Globe.