Back to Connecticut, Dirty Gamblers

The House, as expected, but the stake through Gov. Deval Patrick's casino plans yesterday, dismissing it easily, 108-46.

While Patrick's plan was flawed in many ways -- three casinos seem too many, and the in-town Boston idea was just a bad, bad idea -- the idea of casinos in Massachusetts just make too much sense. But instead of moving forward with plans here, hundred of millions of dollars will continue to go over the boarder into the Connecticut. But that's not important now, because industries that can generate nine figures for the state are all over the place.

Enough of the sour grapes. Interestingly, local House guy Steve DiNatale manned up and voted for casinos, probably earning him some measure of scorn out of the Speaker's Office. And he wasn't alone locally. Flanagan, Rice, Evangelidis, Naughton, and a bunch of others from Central Mass bucked the speaker and voted for a casino. 10 in all from Central and North Central Mass. The only region with more was the South Shore, where they understand this was chance to make the state some money, and not just have the Mashpee Wampanoags keep it all (OK, maybe some more sour grapes, whatever).

To read more about this little phenomenon, and to check out a Google map that show's where all the pro-casino votes came from, head on over too... the Fitchburg Pride website. As if you had to guess.

The Governor's -- and Fitchburg's -- Big Gamble

When asked yesterday about casinos, gambling, and whether or not she like Gov. Deval Patrick's plan, Mayor Lisa Wong begged off on an opinion, but noted the city needs to look locally for new revenue.

It would have been nice (in terms of news value) if Wong had either sworn off casinos or discussed a grand vision for a casino in Fitchburg and all it's gaming goodness, but instead she stayed out of it. But she does make a point: The city shouldn't be relying on casino revenue anytime soon. And that's not good news.

When Patrick unveiled his budget yesterday, he also stuck his stake in the ground on his priorities, both how important he thinks casinos are to the state, and where new money should go for cities and towns.

For Fitchburg, Patrick's local aid funding includes an increase of about $1 million for the schools. It is, roughly, a 2.5 percent increase. Not great, but not bad, either. I think if the School Department was given a take-it-or-leave-it choice, it would take it, no questions asked.

But the other side of the coin, the government side, isn't as rosy -- and the school situation isn't exactly "stand up and cheer."

Local government aid would be dead-level funded, but that includes $1.3 million in "gaming revenues for lottery gap" or whatever Patrick is calling it. In short, lottery proceeds are tailing off, and Patrick is filling the gap with casino (license) revenue. Overall, Patrick is looking at $124.1 million to fill in the gap.

So, now it's on to the Legislature, which will most certainly make, uh, some changes. I think casinos are a good idea for Massachusetts -- why send all that money out of state -- but Patrick's plan is very, very flawed. Additionally, Patrick is going up House Speaker Sal DiMasi, who is not only anti-casino, but has taken his effort to prove he is the biggest gun in the State House to inferiority complex levels this week (if you missed it, check out DiMasi's outburst here). That's a long way of saying, casinos aren't happening right now.

So, what happens next? Does the House fill in the $124 million somewhere else? In a $28 billion budget, you're talking moving around one-half of one percent of the available money. But there's a $1 billion that hole that already needs filling. How much will the House fill in the gap at the expense of state services? Will it slide out some of that Chapter 70 increase and dump it in the government aid?

Wong was smart enough to say yesterday that she expects the numbers to change, and it sounds like she'll be taking a conservative, small-number approach to the budget. But the fact of the matter is, the math doesn't look too good in the early going. Even if Patrick's big casino gamble comes through, the city does no better than even. Not good times.

Lord, Bring Me a Casino and a Block Party. Thank You.

Two things you should know about this afternoon:

First, Gov. Deval Patrick unleashed his budget recommendation today. You can see the details at the Fitchburg Pride website, and I'll probably write more about this tomorrow, but for now all you need to know is that the city's financial fate might rest on casinos. Ugh.

Second, Mayor Lisa Wong unveiled a new idea today: The Fitchburg First Thursday program. Block parties downtown, once a month. You can probably figure out the timing. Great idea for starters. You can read a lot more at the Pride website, right now. And nowhere else.

We're wicked busy, as they say, or we'd write more. I'm sure you're all disappointed. Enjoy, and more tomorrow. Maybe.

Hit Me

So, Gov. Deval Patrick outlined his gambling plans yesterday, and surprisingly made a big bet. Three casinos statewide? It doesn't look like Patrick is hedging on this one.

It's a fun issue to talk about. Millions and millions in possible revenues is exciting. Gambling is exciting. But it might not get very far. House Speaker Sal DiMasi hasn't been much of fan -- to put it mildly -- and the House will be the stumbling block that DiMasi is going to have to get past to make this a reality. So, really, this might be a lot of noise about nothing, but noise that's worth paying attention to and considering all the same.

As I've said before, I favor casinos in Massachusetts. Considering the big money the Lottery brings in, gambling is here to stay in some form of another. Considering all the revenue that leaks across the border to Connecticut, why not keep some of that here? The days of Bugsy and Michael Corleone running casinos are over. There are some social issues to consider, but if those are your major problem, you'd better be ready to eliminate scratch tickets, too.

According to Patrick's proposal, three licenses will be auctioned off. Can Fitchburg find a way to get into the action? The short answer is probably not, for a bunch of reasons. First and foremost, the city hasn't been on anyone's radar screen, and plenty of other cities have been working on this for a while. Second, where? Probably your only option is the airport, which is pretty close to the highway. Third, does the city even want it? Worse things could happen, but it's highly unlikely you'd see it here.

So that leaves the ancilliary benefits for the city. Will this create money for the city's roads, schools and other things? Probably. Patrick is touting $400 million a year in new revenues. Certainly Fitchburg would see some of that. Wouldn't every dollar be a benefit to the city?

The city officials with the strongest voices on this one is Rep. Stephen DiNatale and Sen. Robert Antonioni. Hopefully they realize gambling is a reality the state must embrace through casinos, and help make this a reality for Massachusetts.