Meeting planners will soon have more choices for gaming meetings in the Northeast, as Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law a historic gambling expansion bill that legalizes casinos in the Bay State, his office announced last week.
Patrick signed the law, H. 3807 — "An Act Establishing Expanded Gaming in the Commonwealth" — on Nov. 22 after it was passed by both houses of the Massachusetts Legislature. Specifically, the law creates a five-member Massachusetts Gaming Commission that will be responsible for awarding and overseeing gaming licenses. The independent, bi-partisan commission will be appointed within 120 days and will grant licenses for up to three casino resorts in three different regions of the state, as well as one slots facility with up to 1,250 slot machines. One casino resort will be located in western Massachusetts; one in the southeastern part of the state, encompassing Plymouth and Cape Cod; and one in the Boston area. All three licenses will require developers to make at least $500 million in capital investment, including a hotel facility.
"The final chapter in the long debate on expanded gaming has come to a close," Patrick said. "I have always believed that if done right, expanded gaming can create jobs, generate new revenue and spur economic growth in every region of the Commonwealth. Because of initiatives like this one, Massachusetts continues to lead the nation out of this recession."
Already, several groups are gearing up to apply for casino licenses. Among them are the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which owns the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and is vying for a license in Palmer, Mass.; Hard Rock International, which wants to build a casino in Holyoke, Mass.; and the owners of Suffolk Downs, a historic racing park in East Boston where developers want to build a $600 million resort complex.
"This legislation alone is not going to be the solution to our ongoing economic recovery, but it will help put unemployed residents back to work in good jobs with good benefits," said Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray. "We are doing better than most other states, but we still have more than 250,000 people who are unemployed in Massachusetts. In addition to full-time, long-term jobs, we will see thousands of immediate construction jobs once licenses are awarded and proposed projects are approved by host communities. Bringing jobs and revenues to Massachusetts continues to be our priority, and this bill is a part of that effort."