Mar 18, 2008 10:26 am US/Eastern
Hundreds Of Casino Supporters Rally In Boston
BOSTON (AP) ―
Hundreds of casino supporters rallied Tuesday to urge lawmakers to support Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to build three resort-style casinos in the state, while opponents warned the proposal exaggerates the economic benefits and would bring increased crime and poverty.
A key legislative hearing was scheduled on the measure later Tuesday. If lawmakers choose not to support it, the plan could come up for a vote as early as Thursday in the full House, where Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has said he'll vote against it.
Patrick told those gathered on Boston Common his proposal deserves a "serious, balanced, fair hearing in the Legislature."
"We can't engage if it's just about rhetoric," he said. "We have to engage on facts, and we have looked at a lot of the facts."
Many of the union members at the rally wore hard hats and carried signs saying "Casinos equal 20,000 jobs for Massachusetts and I need one of them."
Robert Haynes, Massachusetts president of the AFL-CIO, urged his members to attend the hearing and push their state lawmakers to back Patrick's proposal.
"I want to know which legislator is going to deny you a job, who's going to pay your mortgage when you can't pay, who's going to leave 20,000 workers in an unemployment line," Haynes said.
Earlier in the day, DiMasi told a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast he could not support the governor's plan because it would ultimately harm residents.
"We will absolutely and no question have increased bankruptcies, foreclosures, divorce, broken families, increased property crimes, domestic violence and on and on and on," DiMasi said. "The cost of cleaning up the human devastation brought by casino gambling is too great."
Patrick and DiMasi have engaged in a contentious -- and increasingly personal -- battle over the governor's bill.
Patrick has said the casinos would create tens of thousands of construction jobs and 20,000 full-time permanent jobs and generate $200 million in fees per license plus an estimated $400 million a year in new revenues. Earlier this month, the Chamber of Commerce released a study that supported many of Patrick's economic assumptions.
DiMasi said he has seen strong public opposition to Patrick's plan, but those voices have not been heard as prominently as advocates for casino gambling.
"After six months of debate on this bill, I believe the evidence is not there, the case has not been made and time is running out," DiMasi said. "Right now, my answer is no."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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