A new proposal on Beacon Hill would fund extended commuter rail services along the Route 2 corridor into north central Massachusetts with revenue from a hypothetical casino.
The Rep. Natalie Higgins bill (H 3680) vetted by the Joint Committee on Transportation Tuesday would create an InterCity Regional Passenger Rail fund to finance passenger rail projects and a new region that would be eligible for a casino gaming license. As proposed, Region D would consist of Fitchburg and Leominster and the towns of Ashburnham, Lunenburg and Westminster.
Under the bill, 25% of gaming revenue collected from possible Region D gaming licensees would put toward efforts to expand commuter rail services.
“At the heart of this bill is opening up an additional region for north central Massachusetts for a possible casino and channeling that money into something that we all desperately need: better operated, better funded and more expanded commuter rail,” Higgins told the committee.
Higgins said her constituent, Paul Keating, came to her with the idea. She said it reminded her of learning about Taiwan’s approach to public transit funding during a trip she took through a State Department exchange.
“They really wanted to invest in their public transit system, they did not want to do it on the backs of fares, which would make it harder for their lowest income residents… They came up with a way to fund the modernization of their transit system by building an amusement park and building a stadium and licensing those facilities to not only create more economic development for their country, but to funnel that money into investing in their subway system and their rail system. And that seems like a really innovative idea,” she said.
Keating, a retired Leominster resident who cited his experience working in transportation policy, said the rail expansion could be “backed by a continuous flow of funds” supplemented by matching state bonds.
He hired consulting company HLT, which has worked with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the past, to estimate how much a casino placed in northern Worcester county could generate.
When the study was done in 2021, HLT found the casino would generate about $75 million in taxes, which he said is presently closer to $90 million. He said he chose the northern part of the county for the model to geographically spread out the state’s casinos, as two others — Encore Boston Harbor in Everett and MGM Springfield — are closely off the Massachusetts Turnpike.
“As we look for ways to improve and invest in the economy of north central Massachusetts, we believe that this legislation has a potential for tremendous positive impact for economic development, tourism, and transportation here,” said Roy Nascimento, president and CEO at North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce.
Nascimento said the region has higher unemployment levels than other areas of Massachusetts.
“This project would aid job creation and attract further investment while recapturing crucial gaming dollars currently lost to neighboring states, attracting underserved players from New Hampshire, and further cementing the region as a tourism destination,” he said.
Nascimento added that the 25% of gross gaming revenues dedicated to expanding commuter rail service along Route 2 “would enhance connectivity to Greater Boston while improving interconnectivity between communities along the rail line for employment, health care, education, and daily needs.”
State law allows regulators here to issue up to three resort casino licenses. The state so far has issued two of those licenses but has not issued a license for an operator in the southeastern Massachusetts Region C.
