Lawmakers vote to close casino bill negotiations

A six-member panel of legislators shuttered negotiations Thursday on dueling gambling bills approved by the House and Senate, with one of the members saying private negotiations would be the most expedient way to “get to yes” on a compromise proposal

Conference committees are typically closed, permitting members to negotiate free of public scrutiny, but opponents of expanded gambling said lawmakers should have made an exception for a bill with major, long-term implications for Massachusetts, and one that would affect how billions of public and private dollars will change hands

A separate conference committee negotiating an anti-crime and criminal records bill has opted for open meetings

The decision to close the casino talks, approved by a unanimous vote, drew sharp criticism from lawmakers opposed to expanded gambling, six of who attended the State House meeting only to be asked to leave

“The Senate, actually, was quite proud of its days and days of open debate and transparency,” said Sen. Susan Tucker (D-Andover). “And that makes this particularly sad that in the final hours they’re closing off the public and other legislators.”

Tucker said she had served on two conference committees during her career and said she didn't remember taking a vote to close them

“I don’t know of any instance in which a closed-door conference committee was allowed to share with a member of the Legislature or the public what happened behind closed doors,” added Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford), who joined Tucker and Reps. Steve D’Amico (D-Seekonk), Matthew Patrick (D-Falmouth), Denise Provost (D-Somerville) and William Brownsberger (D-Belmont) for the 30-second-long public portion of negotiations

Added D’Amico, “I think government and taxpayers would be better served if all conference committees were open.”

Before removing members of the press and an expanded gambling opponent representing the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the House’s lead conferee, Rep. Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill), told reporters that the committee wouldn’t set a “timetable” for completing its work

“I think we will spend today beginning the process,” he said. “We know that the clock is ticking and we have a lot of work to do.”

The House and Senate waited until the end of formal meetings of the 2009-2010 Legislature to advance their gambling bills and now face a three-week timeframe to finish work on a bill before formal sessions end on July 31

Less than an hour after conferees began their first meeting, the House’s Republican conferee, Rep. Paul Frost of Auburn, attended a formal House session, where he met briefly with Minority Leader Bradley Jones before leaving. Other members of the conference committee include Senate President Pro Tem Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), Sen. Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), Sen. Richard Ross (R-Wrentham) and Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein

Asked about the governor's indication that he plans to inject himself into the conference committee's deliberations, Rosenberg, speaking to the News Service before the conference committee meeting, said, "People communicate with the conference committee all the time. I'm sure that the governor, the Senate president and the speaker will have opportunities to chat."

"If the governor walks in the room, I will stand to show respect," Rosenberg said with a smile, adding, "I’m not anticipating seeing the governor in the next few hours."

At the conference meeting, Rosenberg made the motion to close the meeting and said he hoped negotiators could “get to yes as quickly as possible.”

Gambling opponents on Thursday called on Gov. Deval Patrick to immediately name a commission to examine the range of costs likely from expanded gambling or to veto landmark legislation that is expected to reach his desk sometime this month

In a letter to the governor from United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts, former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger reminded the state's CEO of his December 2009 request for a “fresh, independent and transparent analysis of the benefits and costs of expanded gaming” and said Patrick has an obligation to make his decisions on gambling proposals based on “the collective national experience” and the best independently gathered information

Patrick supports casinos and expanded gambling, but has reservations about racetrack slot machines called for in the House bill. He has called on the Legislature to send him “I can sign.”

Supporters of the House and Senate-approved bills claim expanded gambling issues have been studied repeatedly and for many years while opponents assert the markets have changed and the state lacks a full understanding of the financial ramifications of the new economic sector is appears poised to sanction

“Without properly analyzing the serious costs to the state which even proponents say will happen, this bill cannot become law,” Harshbarger and other expanded gambling proponents wrote in their letter to Patrick. Need more information regarding house number?

The letter was also signed by David D'Allesandro, former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, former Congressional candidate and Be the Change founder Alan Khazei, Atlantic Charter Insurance Company President Linda Sallop, Mass. Council of Churches Executive Director Rev. Jack Johnson and Mass. Family Institute President Kris Mineau

The letter writers also appealed to Patrick to rethink his support for casinos. According to the letter: “We understand and appreciate your continued opposition to a simple expansion of slot machine gambling in the creation of racinos. We would remind you, however, that every casino that has been proposed begin with 3,000 or more such slot machines - each equivalent to the total that has been proposed for all four tracks.”

The House rejected casinos two years ago, under former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, an expanded gambling opponent who warned of a “casino culture” and predicted expanded gambling would pull commerce away from other Bay State businesses. Gambling policy initiatives quickly gained momentum under House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who represents a pair of racetracks that have been angling to bid on casino license. Casino and racetrack slot supporters claim expanded gambling will bring needed jobs and tax revenues to Massachusetts.