Online Casino > Online Casino News > Archives on the online casino > Lawmakers in Massachusetts try to limit amount of casino gambling

Lawmakers in Massachusetts try to limit amount of casino gambling

The June 28, 2023, By Quirino De Luca

Lawmakers set to approve the first casinos in Massachusetts have promised to control their spread, and to limit them to a few. This may not be possible. online casino news: Lawmakers in Massachusetts try to limit amount of casino gambling

Financial pressures have caused a great increase in slot machines, video gaming terminals, and new casinos in every state that has legalized them over the past 20 years. In Illinois, legislators who approved gambling on riverboat casinos in 1009, recently approved 50,000 video poker stations in bars across the state. Michigan, who had just two casinos in 2000, now has 23, with more being built.

“Once you get the breakthrough of legalization, there is always a push for expansion, and states almost never pull back,’’ said Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in California who tracks the gambling industry. “It always happens one way or another.’’

Even the casinos themselves are skeptical of unbridled expansion, as it can dramatically dilute the market, destroying revenue at the casinos, and increasing the costs of addiction, crime and government regulation.

The State Senate is pushing for three new casinos inside state lines, while the House is pushing for two casinos and slot machines at the state’s race track. However, limiting the number of casinos may not be possible. The two federally recognized Indian tribes have already begun asserting their right to build on sovereign land whether or not they do get a state license. In addition, future legislatures could approve even more casinos.

State Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat and one of the principal authors of the Senate legislation, said he initially sought to include a provision in the bill that would require a super-majority vote of the Legislature to expand the number of gambling facilities. But, he said, that provision turned out to be unconstitutional.

“This is a real issue, and we’re trying to find a solution,’’ State Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg said. “All I can say is, first things first: Get the bill signed into law and set up a regulatory agency. It will be 18 to 19 months before licenses get issued, and during that period of time we need to find a resolution to this.’’



Do you like this news ? Share it!

  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »
  • »