Casino Bill Passes Senate
The State Senate passed a bill authorizing three resort-style casinos, which legislators said could bring in as much as $350 million annually and could create up to 15,000 new permanent jobs around the state.
The bill passed the Senate in a 25-15 vote. It will allow for casinos to be built in three separate areas of the state, including the East, Southeast and West. Worcester and Middlesex counties fall in the Eastern region, which also includes Boston.
Each casino license will cost a developer $75 million, which is expected to raise a total of $225 million. That money will be split between the state's stabilization fund, local aid payments to municipalities and for community mitigation costs.
Casinos are also expected to generate about $350 million in annual tax revenue based on a 25 percent tax rate on all gross gaming activities. Money from that tax revenue would go to state debt reduction, to the lottery fund to support local aid and for additional community mitigation funds.
The bill creates a Gaming Control Board to manage the licenses and revenues.
The bill must now be reconciled with a version the state House of Representatives passed and must be signed by the governor before casinos are officially allowed in the state.
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