Finally, Beacon Hill Appears Ready To Roll The Dice
That’s the word on Beacon Hill.
After months of closed door discussions with other state leaders, House Speaker Robert DeLeo is holding out hope that he can get a gambling bill passed and signed by the governor in July.
After months of battling it out over whether racetracks should be allowed to have slot machines, DeLeo and Gov. Deval Patrick, if not on the same page yet, are slowly getting there, State House insiders say.
By the way, both want casinos - it’s the racetrack slots they can’t seem to agree on.
OK, not to get too deep in the muck here, but it’s the kind of arcane dispute that Beacon Hill insiders revel in while the general public sits looking on, mystified and disgusted.
Here’s a quick synopsis. DeLeo has the politically connected Suffolk Downs racetrack in his district, while a key legislative backer is a big supporter of the Raynham-Taunton racetrack.
The fact is, DeLeo could get a gambling bill signed tomorrow if he just stuck with casinos, which Patrick clearly wants as well.
But, sadly, he probably can’t ditch his racing industry pals and remain speaker.
However, Patrick, while he’s talked a good talk about compromising lately, is only going to bend a little here. Frankly, he’s wary, as he should be, of doing anything that would look like a giveaway to politically radioactive racetrack owners, such as doling out lucrative slot licenses without some sort of bidding process.
The compromise that both leaders are looking at would authorize three casinos while putting a single slot parlor out to bid. Track owners would then be free to compete for it, letting both the governor and speaker declare victory at the same time.
We’ll see – we’ve had several promising casino bills collapse at the 11th hour over the past several years. And there is certainly no guarantee that we won’t see yet another gambling bill fiasco at the State House come July.