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State Issues Archive

Mass. Slots Watch

The Massachusetts slots bill isn’t fading away. Never mind that House speaker Sal DiMasi said earlier this week, fairly unequivocally, that lawmakers wouldn’t be dealing with the measure passed by the Senate in October during this legislative session, which ends on November 18. House dean David Flynn is pushing for debate and a vote anyway. “This isn’t like I’m going behind the back of the speaker,” said Flynn. “Let’s take our chances and have an open debate and let it fall where it may, win or lose … If the speaker’s against this, that’s his business, let him vote no.” Slots supporters estimate 92 to 96 House members would vote yes on the bill if given a chance.

Posted in State Issues on November 9, 2005

“It Looks Highly Unlikely”

Massachusetts House speaker Sal DiMasi said yesterday that lawmakers would concentrate on health care and other issues in the waning days of the fall legislative session and were not likely to take up the slots bill that was passed by the Senate 26-9 in October. ”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 told the Boston Globe.
The bill would have allowed 2,000 slot machines to be installed at each of the state’s four racetracks. As written now, the slots measure is part of a simulcasting bill that must be passed this year for the tracks to remain open. There’s no mention in the article of that complication, but I would bet that’s because the plan is to uncouple the two once it becomes clear slots are really, truly dead this year and pass the uncontroversial simulcasting portion in the session’s final hours.
Or not: Track owners say they’re preparing to hand out pink slips, just in case a simulcasting-only bill isn’t passed.

Posted in State Issues on November 7, 2005

No Vote Scheduled Yet

With little more than two weeks remaining in the 2005 Massachusetts state legislative session, no vote has been scheduled in the House on the slots bill passed by the Senate in early October. Supporters of the bill say more than 90 House lawmakers are ready to vote yes on the measure, but House leaders, including gambling opponent representative Dan Bosley, have left them guessing when the matter might be taken up, and House speaker Sal DiMasi is still mum on where he stands on the issue. A spokeswoman for the speaker told the Boston Herald that, “At this point, I don’t think he has made up his mind … And I don’t think we have a timetable.” The bill could be introduced next January. There’s just one problem with that — the slots measure has been tied to a simulcasting bill that must be passed this fall for the state’s four racetracks to remain open.

Posted in State Issues on November 1, 2005