Mass. Slots Watch
With April 5 set as the date for the Massachusetts House to debate a slots bill passed by the Senate last fall, both sides are advocating their positions with increasing vigor. The New England HBPA and the track employees’ union took out a quarter-page ad on the Boston Globe editorial page this morning (click the image to view the ad in full) that iterates the argument that gambling money leaving the Commonwealth now could be recaptured, while House speaker Sal DiMasi has officially come out as a slots opponent. The Boston Herald reports that the speaker’s “top lieutenants” are pressuring individual lawmakers to vote no on the bill: “The fix is in. It’s just like the old days,” said one Beacon Hill insider. “The word has gone out. He doesn’t want it.”
Speaking to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce today, DiMasis said, “I look at what has been going on in the racing industry, and it seems to be a dying industry,” and predicted that the slots bill would be defeated in the House. “I don’t think the support’s there that people think there is.”
That DiMasi has broken the silence he’s maintained on the slots issue for the last 18 months with such strong statements this week has deflated slots supporters who thought there was a strong chance for the bill to pass this year:
Supporters estimate that 90 out of 160 legislators in the House may vote yes on the bill, which falls short of the 106 that’s needed to override governor Mitt Romney’s expected veto. But it’s likely overriding a veto won’t be a concern after April 5. If the influential speaker of the House predicts that a bill won’t pass, “you can pretty much well … bet on it not passing.”
More: Slots legislation archive
