Gambling for Economic Recovery

71 year old Dottie King-Horne is leaving no stone unturned in her quest to bring a casino to Berlin.

TAPE: I even got a hold of Donald Trump. He had a program on one night. and he was talking about people who had ideas. So I sent him a letter and they sent me a card back saying they were in receipt of the letter. And if there is interest they will get in touch with me. Well, I am sending another letter to see what he thinks.

While she waits for the entrepreneur to get back to her, she decided to also share her vision with the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

TAPE: personally I would like to see the casino on the top of Mt. Forest, I don’t know if you know where Mt. Forest is. It’s in Berlin, and it’s facing the city. A restaurant, windows facing the city, and a hotel complex casino on the bottom...you could have a road connecting you to the Jericho Lake Park.

The Committee considered two bills to expand gambling.

One would allow Berlin to build a casino.

The other would allow video slots at the state’s four race tracks and at one of Coos County’s Grand hotels.

Lawmakers introduce legislation to increase gaming almost every session.

This year, supporters like Berlin Senator John Gallus are using the economic crisis in the North Country to bolster their argument.

7:12 this year in particular we have 1000 people in the last year between Groveton, Gorham, and Berlin that are going to be out of work. There are no other jobs coming.

Gallus- who has supported a slew of expanded gambling proposals- acknowledged opposition to the concept comes from all corners and is entrenched.

But he chided critics for opposing legislation in New Hampshire, but having no problem traveling out of state to gamble.

He recounted one conversation after the Berlin Police Chief had testified against one of his bills.

T.84
2:28 two weeks later I ran across his wife...she said, ‘John, we just got back from Reno.’ Just got back from Reno? She said, yes, my daughter is working there...she has a great job at the casino, she’s employed.’ She wasn’t employed in Berlin. She was one of our young people who left, had a great job somewhere else, making good money.

T.85
1:32...I think one thing is very clear. We have got to do something that helps Coos County.

For a second, Senator Deborah Reynolds sounded like maybe...possibly...she would join Gallus, providing the swing vote necessary to pass the bill out of committee.

But then....

...I can not support this bill. I don’t support expanded gambling. But we have to do something to help our neighbors in Coos County.

Reynolds sentiment is the kind of thing that frustrates long-time gaming advocate Senator Lou D’Alessandro.

5:07 if people have better ideas I want those ideas brought forward....

2:23 these bills will bring money to our state. They will bring jobs to our state. They will bring economic recovery to our state. We would have one billion dollars worth of construction. One billions dollars....how many jobs does one billion jobs worth of construction create?

In addition to all the typical challenges to gambling- hurts local business, fractures families, brings crime, Jim Rubens of the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling attacked the proposals’ basic premise.

TAPE: you simply take existing consumer disposable income, existing consumer spending and you take it out of existing businesses there in the north country and suck it into the black hole of the slot machine and send the profits out of state. That doesn’t help anything.

Rubens suggested the state and federal government try to focus resources on bringing renewable energy projects to the region.

He says wind and woodchip facilities could provide a couple of hundred sustainable jobs.

In a move that surprised few, the Committee voted to kill both proposals.

The full Senate is expected to reject the measures later this month.

Maybe 71 year old resident Dottie King-Horne will have better luck with Donald Trump.

For NHPR News I’m DG.