Boston Area News

BOSTON (AP) ― House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said Wednesday he'd support a proposal to let residents cast a nonbinding vote this fall on whether to allow casino gambling in Massachusetts.

DiMasi, a staunch casino gambling opponent, also said he'd be willing to let lawmakers reconsider the gambling issue next year.

The shift by DiMasi revives the casino gambling debate just two months after House lawmakers overwhelmingly defeated the plan by Gov. Deval Patrick to license three resort-style casinos in Massachusetts.

Patrick projected that his plan for three casinos would generate at least $600 million in licensing fees, $400 million in annual tax revenues and 20,000 permanent jobs.

DiMasi issued the statement just hours before the Senate began debate on a Republican-sponsored amendment that would have added Patrick's casino plan to their version of the state budget.

Senate Republicans filed the amendment to force a debate on casinos in the Senate, which has traditionally been more open to the idea but didn't get a chance to debate Patrick's plan.

DiMasi said he was worried that the amendment could create a budget impasse. He said he would instead support a proposal by Senate Ways and Means Chairman Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell) to put a nonbinding casino question on the fall ballot. Panagiotakos supports casinos.

"The House made its views on casinos clear in May. But rather than have our budget negotiations stall over a potential casino impasse, I suggest we put this before the voters in a nonbinding referendum question and reconsider it next year," DiMasi said in a written statement.

Later Wednesday, the Senate voted 29-9 to create a joint House-Senate committee to explore the casino issue instead of adopting the casino amendment. During debate, Republicans said the Senate should take the chance to have a full discussion of the casino plan.

"I suggest we deal with this issue. We deal with it now," said Sen. Bruce E. Tarr (R-Gloucester). "We need to be counted on this issue."

But others said the Senate's massive $28 billion state budget plan was no place for a debate on the complex issue of casino gambling. Sen. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Northampton) said it made more sense for the Senate to create the joint casino gambling committee.

"We will neither do justice with this issue if we continue this debate today and we will really compromise the rest of the budget debate," Rosenberg said.

Gambling critics urged the Senate to reject both the casino plan and the temptation to study it more.

"This is a Pandora's Box," said state Sen. Robert O'Leary of Barnstable. "It will change the character of Massachusetts in a way that we will come to regret."

Patrick was not immediately available for comment on DiMasi's statement or the Senate vote.

Patrick's Housing and Economic Development Secretary Dan O'Connell issued a written statement saying repeated polls have already shown public support for the governor's casino proposal.

"With all due respect to the speaker, we feel that a non-binding referendum may not be the best course of action at this time," O'Connell said. "The House's opposition to the proposal has settled the question for this legislative session."

In March, House lawmakers voted 106-48 to send Patrick's bill to a study committee, effectively defeating it and ensuring it could not come back up for debate for the rest of the year. The move also blocked the Senate from debating the bill.

After the defeat in the House, Patrick turned his attention to other priorities -- including initiatives to expand the life sciences and renewable energy industries -- although he hadn't given up completely on the casino plan.

Earlier this month, Patrick told a Brookline Chamber of Commerce audience that the plan "may yet come back in the Legislature" but offered few details at the time.

Patrick has also pointed out that the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe are moving ahead with plans to build their own casino in Middleborough. He argues the state could lose hundreds of millions in fees and revenues if it doesn't move quickly to license casinos.

DiMasi, however, repeatedly warned of bringing a "casino culture" to Massachusetts. He has argued that expanded gambling would drain revenues from other businesses and increase personal bankruptcies, petty crimes and other social ills.

Supporters of a second bill to license 2,500 slot machines at the state's four race tracks said they received a promise from DiMasi to allow the bill to come to the floor of the House for a debate this year. The bill has yet to surface.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)