At long last, Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino bill has been put out to pasture. The House voted 108 to 46 to put the bill in a study commission, which is a kind of purgatory for legislation that nobody wants. Speaker Sal DiMasi declared victory, while Patrick slunk off to New York, the land of the losers.
Yesterday afternoon, the bell tolled for Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino proposal. The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies voted 10-to-8 to give the bill a negativerecommendation as it heads to the House for a vote. The House has a poor track record at overturning committee recommendations, which means the bill will probably die on the floor today.
Looks like we’ll be driving to Connecticut to sate our gambling urges for the foreseeable future.
As expected, Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino bill got the thumbs down from a legislative committee this afternoon, by a vote of 10-8, boston.com reports. There had been some drama (well, legislative drama which is not quite the same as drama on The Hills) when casino opponent Dan Bosley admitted to screwing up a technical procedure on the bill. All that did was delay the inevitable.
With the casino debate set to kick off in the State House today, the prevailing wisdom is that Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal for expanded gaming has about as good a chance of coming back to life as Ted Williams. But even if the legislature ices Patrick’s bill, don’t think you’ve heard the last of this casino business. Despite laying low for the last few months, the Mashpee Wampanoag continue to pursue a casino under federal Indian gaming law, and they are still very much in play.
As the Globe explains this morning, the tribe does have significant hurdles to clear. Not the least of which—as we pointed out last month—being who gets elected president. But, the tribe will continue pressing for a casino, and making a fair amount of noise in the process.
As for whether the House quashes Patrick’s proposal, Mashpee spokesman Scott Ferson indicated that the tribe is not overly concerned. (more…)
About a month ago, word in the State House was that once Rep. Daniel Bosley helped tie up the loose ends on the life-sciences bill, his Economic Development Committee would finally take up Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed casino legislation. That happened on Valentine’s Day and the impending casino debate seemed like such a certainty that Bosley’s hometown paper, the Berkshire Eagle, erroneously reported that it would begin the next week. (They’ve taken the article down since, but trust us, this link used to go to the report).
At the time, the pro-casino forces had momentum. Rep. Brian Wallace, the House’s biggest casino cheerleader, said that he’d won over 12-15 representatives who were previously going to vote against the bill, and the Herald even photoshopped up a nifty picture of a poker-playing Patrick raking in chips. Though Wallace was sure Bosley’s committee would give the casino bill a negative report, he still felt confident the Governor’s proposal would receive a full and fair hearing in the House.
“We have to debate this,” he said to me last month. “There’s no way around this now now. It’s taken on a life of it’s own.”
Each Friday, Paul McMorrow will take you inside the smoke-filled rooms and darkly-lit corridors of government to bring you the hottest and juiciest political tidbits. This week: The DOA Casino Bill, shattered ambitions, Don Quixote, the quotable Connolly, and Irish scones.
Word broke early this week that Gov. Deval Patrick’s casinobill was dead. House Dean David Flynntold the Taunton Gazette, “The casino bill isn’t going anywhere. I find very little support for it from members of the house,” adding that he expects a roll call vote on his racino bill, while “the casinos won’t [get one],” because Dan Bosley’s committee, “will issue an adverse report, preventing the house from voting on the casino bill.”
It’s not how things work. The Speaker’s office has repeatedly said that Patrick’s bill will receive a vote on the House floor before it wraps its budget bill in April, regardless of whether or not it gets a favorable committee report. (PS: It won’t.)
Last week was not kind to Patrick’s bizarre pet cause, and this week, the bill abandoned its slow grave-ward lurch in favor of a full-on sprint. The Globe finally buried the Chamber of Commerce’s well-intentioned, but ham-fisted, casino report, while Bosley issued a position paper that blasts yawning holes in Patrick’s economic projections. And then things gotmessy.(more…)
Next week, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies will hold a meeting about the pros and cons of Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino proposal. And if this week’s escalatingtensions between Patrick and House Speaker Sal DiMasi are any indication, it’s going to be a wickedly contentious affair.
In yesterday’s installment of As the State House Turns, Gov. Deval Patrick scored a rare political victory against frenemy and House Speaker Sal DiMasi by canceling a contract that was awarded in a rushed bidding process. Never one to take a defeat lying down, DiMasi came back with a vengeance and attacked Patrick where he’s weakest—casinos.
Each Friday, Paul McMorrow will take you inside the smoke-filled rooms and darkly-lit corridors of government to bring you the hottest and juiciest political tidbits. This week: We’re all casinos all the time.
Hey, guess what everybody? Gov. Deval Patrick wants to build three casinos in Massachusetts. He’s been saying that they’ll bring 30,000 jobs in tow. Turns out, they won’t. Shocking, we know. But this stunning revelation gripped Beacon Hill, and all other concerns were crowded out.
The administration has even stopped citing its 30,000 jobs figure, and taken to speaking of “tens of thousands” of jobs instead. That’s a significant fact, because it marks the first time in this whole gambling debate that reporting has been able to knock the administration off its talking points. (more…)
We love watching fights on reality TV shows. When two contestants all but hiss like feral cats at the sight of each other, it makes for great entertainment. However, it’s distressing when we see this behavior from Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Sal DiMasi.
The war of words between the two men continues to escalate. This time, it’s Patrick who is laying the verbal smackdown.
At long last, Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino bill has been put out to pasture. The House voted 108 to 46 to put the bill in a study commission, which is a kind of purgatory for legislation that nobody wants. Speaker Sal DiMasi declared victory, while Patrick slunk off to New York, the land of the losers.
Yesterday afternoon, the bell tolled for Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino proposal. The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies voted 10-to-8 to give the bill a 
Next week, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies will 
In yesterday’s installment of As the State House Turns, Gov. Deval Patrick scored a 
We love watching fights on reality TV shows. When two contestants all but hiss like feral cats at the sight of each other, it makes for great entertainment. However, it’s distressing when we see this behavior from Gov. Deval Patrick and House Speaker Sal DiMasi.