Massachusetts Mayors Blast Anti-Casino Study as Bogus
Massachusetts Mayors Blast Anti-Casino Study as Bogus Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria ended up being among a group of Massachusetts mayors and town leaders who rejected

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria ended up being among a group of Massachusetts mayors and town leaders who rejected the claims in an anti-casino study that is recent.
Some Massachusetts mayors and town executives in the state have blasted a casino study that claims resorts that are new hurt lottery profits for cities and towns here. Anti-casino advocates are utilizing the study to suggest that the financial great things about adding casinos in Massachusetts have been overstated, and that voters should repeal the casino law in the upcoming November ballot referendum.
According to the study, that has been released by Repeal the Casino contract, local lottery earnings could visit as much as 22 percent if the new casinos are permitted to be built. Overall, the scholarly study estimates that as much as $103 million could be lost as consumers who used to play the lottery change instead to casinos.
Mayors, Town Officials Reject Research
But a group led by Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and Plainville Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes (all of whom lead towns and towns where casinos and slot parlors were authorized) is rejecting these figures, saying that other analysts have come up with entirely different results. Based on the municipal leaders, any lottery losses could be short-term, and would become more than offset by this new revenues earned by the casinos.
‘These claims are totally inconsistent utilizing the other studies about results on regional aid along with the experience of other states lottery that is regarding,’ the officials said in a statement released by the Committee to safeguard Massachusetts Jobs.
To back up these statements, the team cited studies commissioned by the state of Massachusetts, because well as others from the more Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Policy research at UMass Dartmouth. Not just did those studies suggest that the large losses predicted by Repeal the Casino Deal had been unrealistic, however they even offered some evidence that within the run that is long lotteries were not harmed at all by the development of gambling enterprises.
‘ In fact, lottery revenues in Connecticut have doubled since the inception of casinos, and lotteries in Maine, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania have all continued to grow, even as those continuing states introduced gaming,’ the statement read.
Repeal the Deal Fires Back
But the anti-casino group behind the scholarly study pointed out that they used the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s own revenue estimates to come quickly to their findings. Since almost all state lottery income goes into regional government coffers, they said, any drop would straight impact city and town budgets. That, they said, meant that the critiques of their study ‘strain credibility.’
Therefore far, the continuing state Gaming Commission has approved licenses for two casino tasks: an MGM casino in Springfield, in addition to a Wynn Resorts task in Everett. A slots parlor has additionally been authorized for Plainville.
Nevertheless, the continuing future of those facilities remains up in the air. Anti-casino advocates have successfully placed a question on the November ballot voters that are asking they would like to repeal the law that allowed for these casinos to be certified; a ‘yes’ vote would end plans to build the venues.
But anti-casino campaigners are facing a fight that is uphill. Not just are the casinos better funded inside their campaigns to beat the repeal effort back, but recent polling has shown that most voters plan to vote to help keep the gambling enterprises.
Carl Icahn Taj Mahal Bankruptcy Demands Hit Casino Union
Lawyers for Carl Icahn state that the Taj Mahal will only endure if it really is allowed to break union workers to its contract. (Image: Scott Eells/Bloomberg)
Carl Icahn’s lawyers have actually told a bankruptcy court that he will not keep consitently the Taj Mahal (formerly Trump Taj Mahal) open unless the judge cancels the casino’s union contract. That declaration mirrors earlier statements from Icahn, though the nature that is exact of demands happens to be revised somewhat since the instead public battles between him and state officials.
Speaking on behalf of Icahn, attorney Alan Brilliant told US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross that Trump Entertainment Resorts, the house’s parent business, simply couldn’t afford to help keep the Taj Mahal open unless the judge ruled in their benefit and allowed them to break their contract that is current with union.
‘if you don’t grant the…motion, it’s just not viable as a continuing company,’ Brilliant said in court. ‘ Without that, staying in the pension plan, ultimately very quickly the casino shall close. That is the screen here; the window is open.’
Convert Debt into Ownership
Trump Entertainment and Icahn are attempting to push through a plan that would see Icahn convert the $286 million in debt he has in the casino into ownership regarding the resort. Icahn would then consent to invest another $100 million of his very own cash to help keep it all afloat. However, that investment is contingent on a series of demands that begin because of the dissolution of the union contract that is current.
Beyond that, Icahn and Trump Entertainment are searching for significant financial help from Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey, though they’ve modified their demands notably after the extremely negative reaction that their first series of demands received. They’ve been now seeking $175 million in relief via a PILOT ( payments in lieu of taxes) program, also as two grants which aren’t ordinarily offered to casinos: the Economic Redevelopment Grant therefore the Urban Revitalization Grant. The state legislature could have to approve permitting the casino to receive such grants.
Originally, Icahn and Trump desired Atlantic City to lower its home taxation assessments by as much as 80 percent, and for the continuing state to contribute $25 million more in income tax credits.
Union Lawyers Call It Unfair Advantage
But lawyers for Local 54 for the Unite-HERE union said that all of these demands, including those being made of workers and the state and local governments, were simply an attempt by Icahn to enhance the Taj’s competitive place over other casinos at the expense of those who could least afford it.
‘Let’s glance at the poorest associated with stakeholders here while making sure they call it quits every thing permanently before we are even prepared to move,’ said Unite-HERE lawyer Kathy Krieger, while categorizing Icahn’s demands. ‘That’s absolute nonsense.’
Lawyers for the Taj Mahal, though, attempted to show simply exactly how dire the situation was in the casino. According to them, Trump Entertainment has been selling televisions and used mattresses from the now-closed sister home Trump Plaza in an effort to earn much more cash.
But Trump Entertainment attorney Kris Hansen countered that allowing the casino to break their union was the way that is only could survive.
‘it, we have a chance to stay alive,’ said Hansen if you do grant. ‘The expense structure of this casino doesn’t work, also it needs to be fixed. If we’re successful, employees get to keep their jobs, despite the fact that they made some concession. Having a working work surpasses not having a job.’
Personal Media Games Approved for Real Money NJ Online Play
Farmville has money that is real for online play; nj desires to make slots and skill-gaming hybrids a reality. (Source: www.techinasia.com).
Social media games like Words with Friends and Candy Crush might be the surprising next big moneymaker for brand New Jersey online gamblers, if the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has its way.
The DGE has established it will now be accepting submissions for skill-based and social games from developers and that it is eager to begin a framework that is regulatory will allow such games to be included into online and land-based operations within the state.
While revenue from conventional slots has dropped off in modern times, social gaming has grown as a international multibillion dollar industry over a comparable period of time while the DGE clearly views the trend as a means to reviving brand New Jersey’s flagging land-based casino industry, while boosting the sector that is online.
There ended up being talk that is much the recent G2E gambling industry summit in Las Vegas of hawaii of the video slot industry and a general acknowledgement that it needs to adjust and modernize in an effort to allure to a brand new generation of players.
Young people tend to eschew traditional slots in favor of other styles of entertainment, and there is a sense that is growing the adoption of skill gaming and social games, such as Candy Crush Saga and Farmville, in a casino context may be the answer, particularly the idea of a new types of slots/skill-gaming hybrid.
New Jersey First
The DGE has emphasized it the edge it has lost to its competitors in neighboring states in recent years that it wishes to move forward quickly with this initiative, banking that being the first into the market will give.
The nj-new Jersey First effort, which was designed to revitalize the state’s gaming and tourism industries, permits favorable treatment for gaming products which are submitted to nj-new Jersey before just about any state. The supply allows such products two be rolled out regarding the casino flooring within fortnight of evaluation and approval.
‘The concept of combining skill-based and social elements to a casino game has a broad-based appeal,’ stated the DGE in a news release. ‘It will appeal up to a larger part of the population and bring more customers to a casino’s slot flooring or even to their Internet website. Social gamers seem to be knowledgeable about these kinds of games and would be prepared to try them for real-money casino gaming.’
Multibillion Industry
A study that is recent the organization Research and Markets shows that on average 200 million people currently play social games online per month, and that figure is expected to double throughout the next five years. By 2019, the research predicts, the social gaming industry will be worth $17.4 billion.
In 2012, IGT, the planet’s developer that is largest of gaming machines, which ended up being recently acquired by GTECH, purchased social casino games developer Doubledown for the deal worth well over $400 million and it must be reasonable to assume that slots of vegas casino bonus codes the company has been looking into the viability of social/slot hybrids. For the time being, however, the DGE is submissions that are accepting all companies and all developers, as it attempts to rethink and reshape its gambling industry.
‘ Given the success of our New Jersey First system during the last three years, we have actually the quickest time to marketplace for electronic gaming equipment anywhere in the united kingdom,’ stated DGE Director David Rebuck. ‘The Division is authorized to implement this method and move forward with products. Bring your innovative skill-based games to New Jersey and we shall work with you to definitely get them approved quickly.’
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