Governor reaffirms slot parlor, racing opposition

Winchester Star
By State House News Service

Citing his recent meeting with opponents of expanded gambling, Gov. Deval Patrick has informed told legislative leaders that he remains opposed to slot parlors, including the type of racetrack slot venues that Speaker Robert DeLeo supports.

“To be sure, the coalition is opposed to any expansion of gaming in the Commonwealth, even in the limited form we proposed last year,” Patrick, who pushed for resort casinos last year, wrote in a Dec. 9 letter to DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray. “While I am not there, as you know, the conversation confirmed in my mind that slot parlors, ‘racinos’ or any other form of convenience gambling is not something I can support.”

Patrick met with the United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts in his office last week. In his letter to DeLeo and Murray, Patrick encouraged them to meet with the group as well.

“One of the ideas they proposed was for a fresh, independent and transparent analysis of the benefits and costs of expanded gaming,” Patrick wrote.

The governor said ‘there may be merit in updating the forecasts of economic benefit and human impact on which we relied when the administration filed its proposal last year.”

The letter, obtained by the News Service, was also sent to the chairs of the Joint Committee on Economic Development. DeLeo and Rep. Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill) who co-chairs the committee, are expected to piece together an expanded gambling proposal soon. In September, DeLeo, a longtime supporter of racetrack slots, said he also supports casinos.