Paul Giorgio: Rescinding Casino Vote is a Bad Bet

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Paul Giorgio: Rescinding Casino Vote is a Bad Bet

Massachusetts approved legislation in 2011 to allow three casinos and a slots parlor.

Legalized expanded casino gambling came to Massachusetts in 2011. Before that time, we had a state run lottery and a church run bingo empire. This November, voters of the Commonwealth will be asked to “repeal the deal.” That’s a bad idea.

Puritan Massachusetts came to the gaming table late. We sat by and watched as almost every other nearby state legalized casinos and took money from our coffers. Estimates of spending by Massachusetts residents on gambling in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine run as high as one billion dollars annually. That one billion or a large portion could be spent here and we would reap the tax benefits.

I’m not a gambler, but I have gone to plenty of casinos. This is entertainment for a great many people. Is it bad for some-sure, but a great many things we do are bad for some people. Should we ban bread or peanuts because some people are allergic? No. So why do some folks get up on their moral high horse and think they know better.

New jobs

Casinos create jobs and not just in the casinos. It is estimated that the casino industry in Massachusetts will spend about $110 million a year on goods and services from local vendors. That has a multiplier effect in a local community.

It is estimated that the 3 casinos and the one slot parlor will create 10,000 permanent jobs, whose average salary and benefit package will averages about $45,000 a year. A great many of these jobs are entry level and service jobs. But the people who get those jobs don’t have one right now.

Then there are the union construction jobs, which are estimated to be around 6500. These too, are people who are out of work for the most part. Currently Casinos are under construction in Plainridge and soon in Springfield.

In addition to jobs, it is claimed that the Massachusetts casinos will generate $400 million in revenue to the state. Revenue that we badly need to fix our bridges and roads, educate our children, provide treatment on demand and a host of other things such as property tax relief.

Casinos pay real estate taxes

Casinos instantly become the biggest taxpayer in any city. This is another benefit.

What do the “Repeal the Deal” people say?

They believe that a government built on revenue from sin taxes is wrong. That gambling is immoral and that the social cost is too high. Let’s be clear, there is a social cost to gambling-some people are gambling addicts, but I would venture to say that those people are going to Connecticut or Rhode Island right now.

The anti-gambling folks point to what is going on in Atlantic City right now, with casinos closing and people losing their jobs. That is true, but it is because they overbuilt when they had a monopoly on east coast gambling. They also did not update or change with the times.

Las Vegas, America’s gambling mecca has changed with the times, so that today it is more than just gambling. Today, Las Vegas is family friendly. Today Las Vegas is an entertainment destination, not just a gambling destination. Atlantic City is like most monopolies-they didn’t invest and they didn’t diversify

Casinos are an economic engine that will spur development in the cities they are in. Springfield has 9% unemployment-the casino there will help.

I hope people vote no on question 3. Let’s not repeal the deal-let’s play the hand we were dealt and see where it goes.

Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.

Related Slideshow: What Famous Central MA Residents Drive: Paul Giorgio

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Paul Giorgio

Longtime Democratic Party Activist

President, Pagio, Inc

Publisher, Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine

GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Deputy Director of Special Events, President Clinton’s first Inauguration

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