From 2003: Legalize Gambling
While various legislation has been introduced, the Massachusetts state
legislature took no action to expand legalized gaming in the years 2000, 2001
and 2002. On October 3, 2002, the then Governor of Massachusetts issued an
executive order establishing a special commission to study and report on the
potential impact, both positive and negative, of the potential expansion of
legalized gaming in Massachusetts. This commission held public hearings in four
locations throughout the Commonwealth and reported its findings to the Governor
on December 31, 2002. This commission's report did not recommend that the
Governor and/or the state legislature enact legislation that would expand
gaming, ...
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In the Spring of 2003, according to newspaper accounts, Governor Mitt
Romney was considering introducing legislation to allow the installation of
video slot machines at two to four unspecified sites in the Commonwealth which
would be determined by means of an auction with five-year licenses being awarded
to the highest bidders. In a hearing of the Government Regulations Committee of
the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Robert Pozen, Governor Romney's
Chief of Commerce and Labor, on behalf of the Romney administration, stated that
7,200 slot machines at three unspecified sites could raise as much as $300
million annually in additional state tax revenues. At this same hearing, a
number of other gaming-related proposals were discussed.
(The Westwood Group, Preliminary Proxy Statement, filed 12/19/2003, p 13) |
