If you remember the gambling bill from last year, you might be exasperated to hear that another, similar bill has popped up this year. This time, however, it seems like everyone is on board. Last year, the bill came close to passing, but Governor Deval Patrick was against it. Shocker.
Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray said “it’s a jobs bill,” in an interview by Fox 25. This time around, the bill was passed overwhelmingly in the House; 123-32. They expect around 16,000 jobs to come from these new casinos.
Those who oppose the bill think it will cause social problems in the state, such as increased drunk driving. As far as I’m concerned, gambling is one more personal choice that the government shouldn’t be controlling. Fortunately, it seems like most people involved in the decision agree.
The Boston Globe reported that “Once a state ventures into gambling, it rarely stops,” because the limitations set into place are usually slowly eliminated. State government takes 25 percent in taxes from casinos and so they rely greatly on their profit. This means that once a casino is actually up and running, they can easily pressure government officials to push for lower limitations.
If you have ever worked at a place that sells lottery tickets in the state, you’ve probably been exposed to how many people gamble. I worked at a grocery store in the customer service booth. What should have been a job centered on returns and customer service was 90 percent lottery sales. And I would often hear customers complain about the lack of casinos in the state.
The ticket scratchers in Massachusetts are taking over the counters of every lottery vendor in town. Even if you’ve never worked selling lottery tickets, you’ve most likely stood in line behind someone saying “I’ll take 2 number 15s, 3 number 6s, 1 number 12, and uhhh… 10 number 2s.” You probably thought they were done at number 12, but nope. And all you wanted was to buy a tiny pack of Skittles.
You can’t get on the T without stepping in a pile of scratched tickets on the floor. People are using the lottery as much as they can to make up for the lack of gambling options, but they are still gambling.
The taxes on casinos are outrageously high, but that’s a problem for another day. If someone wants to gamble and give that money to the state we might as well let them do it at home instead of in Connecticut.
With the new bill, up to three casinos along with one slot parlor would be approved. These casinos will have on-site lottery sales in order to protect lottery sales. This will also save tons of grocery store, gas station, and convenience store employees from the incessant ticket scratchers; at least some of them.
There have also already been dog racing tracks located in the state with Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere and Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park in Raynham. People in Massachusetts have already shown that they approve of gambling in their communities. And after watching countless videos and reading articles on the bill, without question most Massachusetts residents would prefer to gamble in state if they could.
The bottom line here is that whether or not this bill passes, people are still going to gamble. That pretty much rules out most of the arguments against the bill. If anyone wants to go to a casino, they travel to another state for it. This sends profits to the government of that state, and promotes jobs elsewhere. The 16,000 jobs and the revenue for the state that this bill would provide are too good to pass up.
The Massachusetts Senate will vote on the bill on September 26. It already broke through the House and through the hearts of residents. I don’t think the door to the Senate will be a hard one to knock down either.
