Slot machine measure could lose to the House

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi signaled yesterday that the House might ignore legislation, passed last month by the Senate, that would allow the state's four struggling racetracks to install slot machines.

The speaker's remarks were a blow to an industry that has pinned its hopes on the bill and spent lavishly to lobby lawmakers for its swift passage. If passed, the measure would allow the racetracks to install 2,000 slot machines each, to buoy the 4,000 jobs they support, backers say. The racetrack owners say their facilities will shut down without the bill, sapped by an exodus of customers to casinos in Connecticut and businesses with slot machines in Maine and Rhode Island.

But DiMasi said the chances that the House will vote on a slot machine proposal this year are slim.

''I can't say for sure that I'm going to say, 'No,' for this year, but it doesn't look likely -- it looks highly unlikely," DiMasi said in an interview on City Hall Plaza before the start of yesterday's Columbus Day parade, which was rescheduled from last month.

House lawmakers -- enmeshed in an effort to extend health coverage to nearly 500,000 uninsured residents in Massachusetts -- have other priorities, DiMasi said.

''I think we need to concentrate on health care right now," he added. ''That's my focus. I want to get health care before the deadline. We have $389 million in jeopardy. I don't want any distractions."

Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, a slot machine supporter whose district is home to Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Suffolk Downs in East Boston, said there is little he can do to prod the House to act on the bill. Travaglini helped shepherd the bill through the Senate last month, by a vote of 29 to 6. But yesterday he sounded circumspect about its chances.

''The Senate took the action they felt was responsible and appropriate at the time; if the House doesn't concur, that's totally within their rights," Travaglini said in a separate interview before the parade. ''There's a lot of things that aren't going to get done, and tomorrow's another day."

In addition to allowing slot machines at Suffolk Downs and Wonderland Park, the bill would allow them at Raynham Park and Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville. Supporters say the bill would generate about $350 million in tax revenue a year, or roughly 1.5 percent of state spending, by taxing 60 percent of the earnings.

Backers also say it would help lure customers who have forsaken local racetracks for Mohegan Sun Casino and Foxwoods Resort Casino and other venues. Industry analysts say Massachusetts residents spend about $700 million annually at the Connecticut casinos and millions more at establishments in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Nevada.

Yesterday, racetrack supporters said they were dismayed by the speaker's remarks.

''I'm disappointed to hear that is the speaker's take on the subject matter," said Representative Thomas P. Kennedy, a Democrat whose Brockton district is home to hundreds of workers at the Raynham track. ''Most people that know the industry and follow what's going on recognize the racetracks are really up against the ropes."

Others said they are frustrated that the bill might be put on the back burner.

''It's time for the Legislature to deal with a little more than one issue at a time, and the most important issue for a lot of us is local aid," said Brockton's mayor, John T. Yunits Jr., who emphasized the benefits of new tax revenue for cities and towns. ''Health care is huge, but we've got to run our communities, and whether it's $100 million or $350 million, that's millions more than we have now, and it's crazy to let that disappear."

Yunits added, ''I have a huge amount of respect for the speaker, but we really can't have the Legislature dodging the issue at this time."

If House members voted on the bill, it would pass, but without the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a threatened veto by Governor Mitt Romney, said Representative David L. Flynn, a Bridgewater Democrat and supporter of the slot machine proposal. Flynn said he had counted 92 supporters in the House. He called DiMasi's remarks ''not good," but said he will continue to fight for the bill.

The racetrack industry has also mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign on Beacon Hill. A Globe review of state records found that lobbyists for the racetracks, as well as for gambling companies and Native American tribes that stand to benefit from the bill, gave more than $27,000 to senators' campaigns in the first six months of the year. Suffolk Downs hired a former House speaker, Charles F. Flaherty, as its lobbyist. And racetrack workers have been picketing frequently outside the State House.

''I just know from the feedback you hear from everybody, they think the state is in a lot of trouble, and this would certainly help," said Karen Burke, a lottery manager at the Raynham track who said she is puzzled by DiMasi's position on slot machines legislation. ''Customers need to come in, and this would bring them to the track. It just seems like a win-win situation."

DiMasi said he plans to meet this week with Representative Daniel E. Bosley, chairman of the House Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, which is reviewing the slot machine proposal.

Bosley said yesterday that he is concerned that the bill's social and administrative costs could outweigh its benefits.

''I don't know if it's dead for this year," Bosley said. ''But we're explaining to people that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."