In coming months, the Legislature will consider several bills relative to establishing casinos in New Hampshire. The state faces numerous challenges surrounding education funding and property taxes, and nearly everyone agrees there is a pressing need to generate more state revenue. But legislators and citizens are divided on whether a portion of that revenue should come from expanded gambling, and even those who support casinos do not necessarily want one built in their backyards.

Pease Tradeport in Portsmouth has been tossed around as a possible site for a casino and is specifically referenced in at least one bill before the Legislature. Senate Bill 225, introduced by Sen. John Gallus (R-Berlin), would allow video gaming in Coos County and open the door for casinos in Berlin and at Pease. Proceeds would go into an education property tax rebate fund aimed at reducing property taxes.

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means heard testimony about the bill during a hearing at the State House in Concord on the morning of March 6. Gallus told committee members he introduced the bill to generate discussion about the possibility of casinos as a way to generate needed revenue to lower property taxes. He called the bill a work in progress and said it could be tweaked at the committee’s discretion.

But a parade of speakers raised objections to the bill, including state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth), Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce President Dick Ingram, state Rep. Jim Powers (D-Portsmouth), Assistant N.H. Attorney General Ann Rice and N.H. Council of Churches executive director David Vincent.

They came to testify that the negative social, environmental and economic impacts of a casino in Portsmouth would far outweigh the benefits.

“Reject the illusion of easy money and encouraging greed,” Vincent told the committee. “New Hampshire does not need gambling.”

The Portsmouth City Council on March 5 unanimously voted to oppose expanded gambling within the boundaries of Portsmouth. Marchand intended to voice his opposition during the hearing in Concord, but the committee ran out of time before he had a chance to speak. The hearing will resume on March 15.

“We don’t have anybody who supports the bill who wants to speak,” said Lou D’Allesandro, vice chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. He noted state Rep. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) supports the bill but did not wish to speak.

Another gambling bill, House Bill 520, would create a casino commission to establish state-owned casinos at any location statewide, pending approval from the local municipality. The casinos would have to be at least 100 miles apart, which essentially limits them to two or three locations. The vast majority of revenue would go toward education funding, with 5 percent dedicated to gambling addiction programs.

Prime sponsor Anthony DiFruscia (R-Windham) said he filed HB 520 with locations of Berlin and Salem in mind, but it would be up to the commission to decide where any casino would be located, and Pease Tradeport is a viable option, he said.

Marchand stressed he would oppose any type of expanded gambling in the Port City.

“I think gambling in general and a casino in particular would be a particularly bad idea in this part of the state,” the mayor said in phone interview with The Wire. “The economic development that has occurred already at Pease is historic. Pease is often seen as a national model for the redevelopment of closed military bases, and to me the goal should be to continue on the same track of development that we have undertaken over the last 10 or 15 years.”

That development includes the creation of thousands of high-paying, professional jobs with convenient access to major roads, ample parking and close proximity to downtown Portsmouth, Marchand said. A casino, on the other hand, would create relatively low-paying jobs and increase the crime rate by attracting visitors with dependency issues, he said.

“In a time when the Seacoast is suffering from an affordable housing challenge, to create, in theory, hundreds of relatively low-paying jobs would only work to exacerbate our affordable housing situation,” Marchand said.

Powers agreed with Marchand and said constituents in Portsmouth and Newington overwhelmingly oppose the concept of a casino at Pease or the Port of New Hampshire. “It would in fact be counterproductive to some of the great work the PDA (Pease Development Authority) has done,” Powers told the Committee on Ways and Means.

Factoring in hidden social costs, Marchand added, a casino would not generate enough revenue to make a significant dent in property taxes.

“Unless the casino was of a massive scale, I question the true economic benefit for the state,” he said. “To get to the point where it would be profitable for the state would take a scale so large that I think even many advocates would bristle at the magnitude of the project.”

DiFruscia disagrees. Although he did not have estimates for how much revenue casinos in New Hampshire would generate, he believes gambling facilities even a fraction the size of Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun—both located in Connecticut—could solve the state’s education funding dilemma. “I think it would eliminate the problem completely,” DiFruscia said.

According to Connecticut’s Division of Special Revenue, slot machines at Foxwoods produced $9.4 billion in gross revenue during fiscal year 2006, although more than 90 percent of that was paid out to winners. The casino withheld $818 million, 25 percent of which went to the state. That’s more than $200 million of revenue from just one casino, although Foxwoods is the largest casino in the world. Mohegan Sun reeled in about $10.5 billion from slots in fiscal year 2006 and held more than $892 million. That equates to more than $220 million in contributions to the state. The two casinos have transferred more than $4 billion in combined revenue to the state’s general fund since 1993.
According to a recent survey conducted by the University of Massachusetts Center for Policy Analysis, 466,000 N.H. residents made trips to Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods over the last year. Released in February, the survey found that one in five N.H. residents reported visiting at least one of the Connecticut casinos within the last 12 months. Women accounted for 62 percent of the Granite State casino-goers, while men comprised 38 percent. More than 90 percent of the visitors were at least 30 years old, and close to 90 percent had an annual income of at least $45,000. The study indicates that N.H. residents spent $73 million at the two casinos in 2005.

DiFruscia said he believes the public would welcome a Foxwoods-style facility. If his bill clears the Legislature, DiFruscia is confident individual communities will embrace the idea of casinos. “Most people would vote for legalizing gambling,” he said. “I have no doubt in my mind that it would pass (at the municipal level),” he said.

DiFruscia acknowledged that many people oppose gambling on legal and religious grounds. But he noted the state already has lottery tickets, and many church organizations host bingo games for money. There are four gambling racetracks in New Hampshire, located in Seabrook, Hinsdale, Belmont and Salem. People who oppose gambling are welcome to stay away from casinos, DiFruscia said. “Gambling by any other name is gambling,” he said. “It’s a matter of personal opinion. If you want to call it revenue by choice, I have no problem with that.”

The Pease Development Authority is not taking a stance on the issue of expanded gambling, according to newly appointed director Dick Green, who took the helm in August 2006. “We are not taking any position on this at all,” Green said. “Our position basically is neutral as far as the bill is concerned.”

The PDA also has authority over the Port of New Hampshire, which could undergo significant changes in coming months. Green recently asked legislators for $1.6 million over the next four years to invest in projects to help attract more tourists to the port. Green and other city and state officials want to see the port diversify its operations to include ferries or small cruise ships, an idea Marchand has publicly supported.

Ships on international waters are permitted to host gambling activities once they are a certain number of miles from the coast, but state law in New Hampshire prohibits any ship with gambling devices onboard from approaching the shore.

“There’d have to be some substantial changes in statute authorizing gambling as a legal function for us to even think about whether the port or Pease would even be able to consider it,” Green said. “I don’t get into speculation. It’s a great discussion, but it’s only a discussion.”

Marchand finds the idea of gambling at the port even more unappealing than a casino at Pease. “I would be vehemently opposed to any form of gambling at the port,” the mayor said. “In fact, I think the port should remain a traditional working port in the sense of boats importing and exporting goods and services.”

The Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce recently circulated a survey among 1,050 area businesses, asking whether they would support the idea of a casino at Pease Tradeport. Chamber President Dick Ingram told the Committee on Ways and Means that more than 70 percent of businesses that responded said they were against the idea.

Ann Rice said the N.H. Attorney General’s Office has opposed expanded gambling for the last three decades, mainly because of law enforcement concerns. She said more gambling invariably compounds financial difficulties, increases crime rates and indirectly leads to domestic violence, child abuse and other crimes associated with low incomes. “Studies have shown that those who can afford it the least are the ones who spend the most money on gambling,” Rice said. She cited another study indicating that pathological and problem gambling increase by 50 percent in areas within 50 miles of casinos. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission conducted the study.The N.H. Attorney General’s Office has prosecuted cases involving bad checks, theft and even murder associated with gambling problems, Rice said. But DiFruscia does not believe expanded gambling would increase crime rates. State-owned casinos would be less susceptible to organized crime than privately owned facilities, he said, and gambling establishments provide a good social atmosphere for senior citizens.

Dale Childs, racing enforcement officer for the N.H. Pari-Mutuel Commission, feels the threat of increased crime due to expanded gambling has been exaggerated.

“That’s a common fallacy,” Childs said. “We have scratch tickets in this state. We have Texas Hold-em’s in this state. Do you really think these games are going to cause any more dependency?”

Childs said casinos could actually reduce crime rates by creating jobs for people in financial crisis. The Pari-Mutuel Commission would be responsible for monitoring any casino in the state, perhaps necessitating additional positions. But Childs said the expense of adding personnel would be minimal compared to the revenue raised by casinos, and the commission would keep a close watch on gambling facilities to prevent illicit activity. “We’re not looking for anything that would bring in crime,” she said. “The only thing I can see it would do for the state is help them. I don’t see any issues with crime.”

Seabrook resident John Fowler was among dozens of people at the Seabrook Greyhound Park on March 1 watching simulcast horse races. A former employee, he has visited the track regularly for the last 30 years. Fowler and others at the track said they strongly support the idea of a casino somewhere on the Seacoast. “This would be the ultimate place for a casino,” Fowler said, noting Seabrook and Pease Tradeport are ideally located with easy access off Interstate 95. “It would totally boost the economy.”

Marchand said he did not wish to speak on behalf of communities like Seabrook, Hinsdale or Berlin, but he believes most Portsmouth residents oppose the idea of a casino. He questioned why Gallus specified Pease Tradeport as a casino site, even though Portsmouth is outside his district. Sen. Gallus could not be reached for comment and did not return several phone messages for this story, but on March 6 he told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that Portsmouth provides an easily accessible location within an hour of Boston.

Sen. Fuller Clark told the committee a casino at Pease would create a traffic gridlock and would have a “disastrous impact” on other Seacoast businesses that provide amenities to visiting tourists. People who go to casinos usually stay at hotels and eat at restaurants within the facility, rarely exploring the rest of the city. “I do not see any benefit to the community of the Seacoast,” Fuller Clark said.

The senator also worries about possible environmental impacts of establishing a casino in Portsmouth. Adding traffic congestion at Pease would have a detrimental effect on air quality, thereby detracting from the quality of life on the Seacoast, she said.

There are a total of 10 bills before the Legislature that deal with expanded gambling, although most involve video gaming or slot machines, rather than full casinos. Senate Bill 225 would permit video gaming in large hotels with at least 140 rooms in Coos County. House Bill 510, sponsored by Edmond Gionet (R+D-Lincoln), would allow the establishment of privately owned casinos regulated by the lottery commission.

The House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony on the two casino house bills during a hearing in Concord on Feb. 13. While many legislators spoke out against expanded gambling, a number of state representatives signed up in support of the bills, DiFruscia said. HB 510 has six total sponsors, while HB 520 has four.

If SB 225 is adopted, contracts for building casinos in Berlin and Portsmouth could go out to bid before the year is over.