Tagged: Gambling

Gambling has been front and center in New Hampshire politics since January.  Governor Hassan made a major political push for it, interest groups weighed in on both sides, and public policy groups came out with data on the possible effects of a Granite State casino. That's why today's vote in the House has been considered by many as maybe the biggest vote of the year. In the end, the House voted 199-164 to kill the casino bill. Today we'll have some of the major players of this debate and ask gaming advocate what's next for them.

Guests

As the New Hampshire House prepares to vote on a casino bill this week, NHPR is bringing you a series of stories that look at the implications of opening a casino in the Granite State.  Today we turn our focus to the potential social costs related to gambling addiction: how the state is handling problem gambling now, and how it could in the future.

Millennium Gaming brought leaders from Washington County, Pennsylvania to Concord to tout the benefits of a casino to lawmakers at a lunch meeting today.  Millennium runs The Meadows casino and racetrack in Washington.  If New Hampshire allows a casino at Rockingham Park, Millennium would develop it. 

Testimony turned emotional today as a House subcommittee considered the social costs of allowing a casino in New Hampshire.   Most of the comments focused on studies of gambling behavior and public policy.  The exception was Mell Brooks, of Littleton.  He discussed his five years as a restaurant owner in Oregon, where he was allowed to have five video slot machines. 

The joint House committee assigned to hear the casino bill backed by the state Senate and Governor Maggie Hassan got an earful today, as House members spent the day listing to experts.

The House votes on the "Stand Your Ground" repeal, which would again require people to attempt to retreat before using deadly force, and a bill to increase the state's gas tax; gambling remains a heavily-debated issue, with differing proposals in the House and Senate, and one that could be affected by who replaces Michael Delaney as Attorney General.

Gambling in the United States has exploded over the last 30 years. More and more, budget-slashing states are becoming increasingly dependent on lottery and other gambling revenues, and politicians are lobbying for expanded gambling, including here in New Hampshire, where Governor Maggie Hassan has included a line item for $80 million in the budget for casino licensing fees. Hassan has been pushing hard for the construction of a single high-end casino near the Massachusetts border, but opponents point out that problem gambling is on the rise – in fact, pathological gambling is now being recognized on par with alcohol and drug addiction. In 2011, we spoke with investigative journalist Sam Skolnik, whose book, High Stakes: The Rising Costs of America’s Gambling Addiction, unpacks the rise of politically supported gambling, as well as its many hazards.