Fate of Casinos to Impact Central Mass

Friday, October 17, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

In less than three weeks Massachusetts will decide the fate of casinos in the state, something that stands to have an impact on Central Massachusetts, even though there is no approved casino in the region.

Because there is a casino on both sides of Worcester County – one in Plainville and one in Springfield – if casinos are passed in Massachusetts, there is sure to be an impact on the Central part of the state.

“Casinos are an investment in addiction,” said Konnie Lukes, a Worcester City Councilor. “I am opposed to casinos but I think that it could be interested to see if they are built differently. There are some casinos that build malls and create more of a family environment; just gambling is an investment in addiction but I think it could be interesting if casino builders look beyond the gambling aspect and develop new missions.”

Those in favor of keeping the casino law as is (a no vote on Question 3) rave about the various economic benefits that casinos can create, including more jobs and money that is being spent in state rather than out of state. Those who would like to see the casino law repealed (a vote of yes) say if casinos come to Massachusetts, they will bring a wave of negative benefits, including addiction, increased crime, and a negative impact on local economy.

Potential For Jobs

Much of the support for casinos in Massachusetts hails from the amount of jobs and potential economic benefits that the casinos could create for Massachusetts; many in support for casinos claim that 10,000 jobs will be created throughout the Commonwealth.

While there is no casino in Worcester County, there are plenty of potential jobs that could be created by having a casino on each side of the county. Contractors and local businesses have plenty to gain from aligning themselves with casino growth in the Commonwelath.

“We might not have a facility here, but there are still economic benefits for both Worcester and Central Massachusetts,” said Stewart Loosemore, Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We aren’t talking about jobs in the state, we are talking about jobs in the city and the region. Not only that, if money is brought to the local economy, then it stays local.”

Losing Lottery Money Hurts Economy

According to a report by Repeal the Casino Deal – a statewide organization opposed to casinos in Massachusetts – all cities and towns will lose money from casinos in the form of lottery aid.

Worcester, of all the cities and towns in Massachusetts, stands to lose more than $3.4 million in local aid from the lottery. Additionally, other Central Massachusetts cities like Lowell and Fitchburg stand to lose $1 million or more in aid.

Overall, the study says that the portion of gaming taxes allocated to local aid under the current casino law passed by the legislature will fall about $85 million short of offsetting the hit to Lottery sales predicted by several independent studies.

“Worcester stands to lose a lot of money in lottery aid, which would do more than just take away those funds from state and local economy,” said Marjorie Nesin, Spokesperson for Repeal the Casino Deal. “This is more than a loss for lottery money because it is a real hit to all the local convenience stores. Additionally, casinos are made to keep people in, meaning that people are not spending money in the local economy, they are spending all of their money in casinos, where the money will go out of state to investors rather than the local economy.”

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Fate of Casinos to Impact Central Mass

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