BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick made his pitch for expanded gambling before a skeptical audience Friday, telling representatives of the state's tourism industry his plan to build three resort casinos would boost customer traffic across Massachusetts, not damage business at traditional venues as they fear.
The governor also prodded his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature, saying delays in acting on the bill will not forestall the inevitable arrival of casino gambling on Indian tribal lands but may prevent the state from implementing the controls and deriving the tax benefits outlined in his legislation.
"One of the points we've been making to our partners in the Legislature is we can either help set the rules or we can have this done to us, but one way or another, it's coming," Patrick told the annual Massachusetts Governor's Conference on Travel & Tourism.
While answering audience questions after the speech, the governor also revealed two nuggets: A bill to expand highspeed Internet access to western Massachusetts is expected to begin moving toward a legislative vote within a week, and the state is in negotiation with two movie companies about building soundstages in Weymouth and Plymouth.
Broadband Internet service is coveted both by western consumers and businesses alike, including those trying to service tourists. Patrick has proposed using a $25 million bond bill to make strategic state investments in highspeed equipment that would make it cost effective for private companies to expand their service.
The permanent movie set sites, meanwhile, would allow filmmakers to not only complete location shots in Massachusetts, as is often done on the streets or in locales across Boston and Cambridge, but work in a permanent soundstage away from the more costly environs of Hollywood. The governor did not elaborate.
Patrick's visit marked the first time a sitting governor had addressed the conference in the recent past, despite having the gathering held in his name for 21 years. Tourism also is the state's third-largest industry, pumping $14.2 billion of direct spending into the economy and responsible for 126,000 jobs.
The conference coincided with the announcement of a new tourism advertising campaign in which 90 new 30-second spots will be aired, including some targeted at luring gays and lesbians to such destinations as Provincetown.
The governor said of the campaign, "It's being directed to everybody. The point is that we want to be open to and welcome to all kinds of tourists, and I'm very proud of the marketing program."
The tourism officials cheered Patrick's attendance, despite being skeptical of the casino plan not only because of their fears about it undercutting visits to traditional sites such as Cape Cod or the Berkshire Mountains, but also because the casinos would compete for an already sparse population of seasonal workers.
Cape Cod businesses, for example, add 24,000 jobs during the peak summer season, including up to 7,000 foreign workers. Visas for most those employees have been halted by Congress this year.
"Our biggest concern is it would exacerbate our worker shortage," said Sue Northcross, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.
Patrick argued that casinos would create permanent and construction jobs, replace revenue lost through sagging Lottery sales and capture some of the estimated $1.1 billion Massachusetts residents spend annually at casinos in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
"Bringing even a portion of that activity to Massachusetts can help spawn new activity, broader activity, for this industry," he said.
Responding to a question from a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe, which continues to seek federal approval for a casino license on tribal land while mulling a bid for a casino license, Patrick said such twin tracks are "entirely reasonable."
He added: "I think there are some incentives why we can work together on this, but the tribe is moving ahead, I think quite reasonably, because nothing's happening, or little is happening, on the resort casino bill."
