Rhode Island Casinos Stands To Lose Unless…

When Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill into law that would see three casinos and a slot parlor being built in Massachusetts, many of the people in the know who lived in Rhode Island sighed audibly with regret. It seems, however, that this law might now be overturned by the Massachusetts public, and this has those same people holding their thumbs, and their breath, in hopes that they will be successful. Why is this the case? Journalist Russell Moore believes that he has the answer.

Casinos Produce Necessary Revenue For Rhode Island

According to Moore, Rhode Island actually relies a great deal on the gambling revenue that is generated by Massachusetts-based gamblers who do not have casinos based in their own state. For this reason, these players spend their money in Rhode Island casinos, and this revenue is used to benefit the state in a variety of ways, including paying state workers. Without this revenue, the state is looking at some big cutbacks.

This is the reason why many were unhappy when Governor Patrick signed a bill that would introduce gambling facilities into Massachusetts. Luckily for Rhode Islanders, many residents of Massachusetts were anything but happy with the law and they have since been working on having it repealed.

The Petition

Although the bill has been passed into law, some experts believe that residents might still have the power to overturn this decision, and this could be accomplished through the signing of a petition with 90,000 signatures. Nothing is certain at this stage, however, since Attorney General Martha Coakley believes that if the companies who have already paid for and applied for their casino licenses are thought to have entered into a contract with the state, the citizens of that state have no power to supersede this.

In the event that the attorney general is wrong, Rhode Island citizens can thank their lucky stars that they will continue to benefit from the revenue obtained by Massachusetts players. It should be noted that it is believed that they make up about 40% of the players who support Rhode Island based casinos. When converted into currency, the casino brings in about $320 million for the state in revenue alone. This means that a withdrawal of these players to their own casinos will definitely hit the industry hard enough to be felt in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Casinos To Expand

In the event that the law is repealed, experts such as Moore are recommending that Rhode Island look into expanding their offerings so that they can really take advantage of the possibilities that casinos have to offer with regards to revenue. As far as he is concerned, casinos are here to stay whether people like them or not and if Massachusetts isn’t looking to take advantage of what they have to offer, Rhode Island is more than happy to.