MA Polito Calls Insider Issues with New Slots Move
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Massachusetts is in the midst of huge changes when it comes to gambling laws. Slots have been used to bring in much-needed revenues to the state. The gambling-tax revenue is in the millions and highly coveted by state officials who are struggling with the deficit. The recession was hard on every state and Massachusetts is feeling the crunch too. The deficit was large prior to the recession, but times have changed and brought an even heftier financial burden on the state. It is now left to look for various ways of generating additional cash.
State Representative Karyn E. Polito is pointing her finger at the House officials. The Democratic House has a plan to permit two resort casinos to bring slot machine gambling to their facilities at four race tracks. Polito claims that the move is purely political and has some inside benefit for the parties involved. She is on her way to a potentially successful bid as state treasurer and believes that the licenses should not be handed to race tracks. Rather, the licenses should go through the proper bidding process; by offering it solely and automatically to race tracks, favoritism is being used for an inside motivation.
Though some believe Polito is anti-gambling, she has proven that is false. She believes that the two casinos in the state and four race tracks will develop new non-tax revenue sources for the state. They also will introduce a new job base for the suffering state. Though she is encouraging of the move, she still believe the approach the state took to handing out licenses was the wrong move. The move gives the illusion of an insider agreement that may not necessarily be an advantage to all parties involved, or fair. The plans for the formalizing of the move should be completed by the end of July. That means that all the debates have to be sorted out clearly in upcoming weeks. Most likely Polito’s accusation will open the door to at minimum an investigation of the issue. Hopefully it will bring the necessary changes and make them manageable and fair for all potential parties involved in the gaming industry as it develops in the future.

