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New Hampshire legislators have a major advantage in the current debate over legalizing slot casinos. They (and we) can learn from the actual experiences in other states having done so.
Last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer hosted a TV call-in program on that state of Pennsylvania's business climate. A caller asked about the impact of Pennsylvania's 10 (soon to be 14) slot casinos, the first of which opened in late 2006.
Here is the YouTube clip of the answers from three of that state's economic experts, all of whom see little to no economic gains from slot casinos:
· David Thornburgh, Executive Director of the Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania;
· David Black, President & CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and Capital Region Economic Development Corporation; and
· David Taylor, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association (analogous to the NH Business and Industry Association). The PAMA opposed the casino plan during debate over legalization.
Here is what David Taylor said:
"The gambling industry doesn't do anything to add value or create wealth. And of course there are the sociological costs that would go along with that ... In Clark County Nevada, the resident population there is about 1.5 million, but the annual visitors to Clark County is something over 35 million. What happens is that you fly them into McCarren [Airport] right by the strip, you fleece them, and then you send them home to deal with their losses back where they came from. In Pennsylvania, most of Pennsylvania tourism is Pennsylvanians visiting another part of the Commonwealth, so we're in a position of not being able to export the social costs of those gambling losses. I for one remain very troubled about the situation... There's a lot to be unhappy about the gambling legacy.
It just cannibalizes discretionary dollars that would go to other consumer spending ... the casino industry does not to add value or create wealth.
The jobs that get added are the croupiers and blackjack dealers and cocktail waitresses. Gambling does not really add value the way that a professional service or manufacturing process would add value. It's a very expensive form of entertainment."
Bottom line: please ask any member of the House or Senate to kill casino and slot machine bills.Ways & Means Committee you know to vote ITL (and not retain) on HB-593, the Gionet 2-casino bill.
Ask them to kill this bill quickly so that gambling does not hold the budget process hostage, as during the past two state budgets.
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