A month after rejecting one casino, the New Hampshire House killed a new casino proposal Wednesday by one vote, but left the door ajar to reconsider the bill.Click to watch News 9's coverage.The. Apr 24, 2019  Over the past 20 years, the New Hampshire House rejected nearly a dozen attempts by D’Allesandro to pass a bill that would have established a casino infrastructure statewide. In 2014, one bill that would have created two Las Vegas-style casinos in New Hampshire fell one vote short of passage in the House.

• New Hampshire Casinos Map
• New Hampshire State House
• New Hampshire Vote Results
• New Hampshire Vote 2016
• State Of New Hampshire Voting

Efforts to introduce a regulated casino industry in New Hampshire have passed the state’s Senate with 13 votes and will now progress onto the House.

New Hampshire Casinos Map

The bill, named SB 242, was proposed by Senator Lou D’Allesandro and actually passed the senate with an affirmative vote. However, the bill was handed to a special Finance Committee for special consideration. The committee reached a stalemate with a 3-3 split on the bill, sending the legislation back to the senate floor for another vote. The same result was produced as the first round of voting, pushing the bill on to the state’s legislative House.

The bill provides for two casinos to be built within the state, although it does not specify where the two venues will be located. Both venues will be allotted 240 table games and 5,000 slot games between them. The two casinos would be erected under separate gaming licenses, a category 1 and a category 2.

The provisions for a category 1 license include 80-160 table games, 2,000-3,500 slot machines, and a price tag of $80 million. The category 2 licensee will come with 25-80 table games, 750-1,500 slot machines, and a price tag of $40 million.

Politicians involved with the legislation urged those skeptical of the practice to look at neighboring Maine and Massachusetts, which already operate successful casino industries. To combat the loss in casino tourism, and more importantly those funds leaving the state’s borders, legislators agreed passing the bill was a step in the right direction.

New Hampshire State House

When asked for his comments on the subject, the bill’s founder D’Allesandro said, “While New Hampshire has done nothing, surrounding states now have gaming entities. They advertise on our TV stations and we send buses of New Hampshire residents to those other states to gamble. It’s time for New Hampshire to do something. No state that has done this has crumbled.”

It has been estimated by the New Hampshire lottery commission that the new industry could generate as much as $194 million in its first full year of operation. Said date is expected to be 2021, should the legislation pass into law. Revenues generated by the casinos would be reinvested into the surrounding towns and the hosting county.

In the past, such efforts to erect a gaming industry have been met with strong opposition. New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster has been one of the most vocal opponents.

New Hampshire Vote Results

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire House once again rejected casino gambling on Wednesday, voting down a proposal that would have legalized two venues that supporters said would have provided badly needed revenue.

“Casino gambling will not be an asset to New Hampshire,” Democratic Rep. Patricia Lovejoy, a longtime casino opponent, said. “All New Hampshire can expect are hometown convenience casinos that pull money out of the pockets of our residents, not destination resorts attracting out-of-state residents.”

Casinos have never passed the House, but supporters and opponents alike were expecting a much closer vote than the roughly 50-vote swing on Wednesday.

“I was kind of shocked by the vote,” said Democratic Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, the prime sponsor of the bill that passed the Senate in March. “I thought we would do much better,”

The bill would have legalized two casinos, one large and one smaller, with initial licensing fees of $80 million and $40 million respectively. Revenue estimates in the bill predicted up to $135 million in annual state revenue, but opponents questioned those numbers. The estimates did not take into account the opening of a casino nearby in Massachusetts.

Supporters of casino gambling have said people who already are spending money at other casinos would either stay in or visit New Hampshire’s gambling halls, providing a revenue boost. But opponents have long argued that legalizing casinos in New Hampshire would bring negative social costs and provide an unreliable source of revenue. The bill included a strict regulatory structure developed by a bipartisan commission last session.

“This is one of the best-vetted pieces of legislation to come down the pipe in a very long time, and I would say probably the best (gambling) framework of any state in the country,” Democratic Rep. Jackie Cilley said in support of the bill.

Opponents also told their colleagues that despite the spending priorities they outlined in the bill — such as $25 million in revenue sharing for towns and cities — a future legislature could decide to use the money differently.

New Hampshire Vote 2016

Many Republican representatives rejected the bill because they do not want the state to choose who can and can’t build casinos. Republican Rep. JR Hoell proposed an amendment that would’ve eliminated all restrictions on gambling while a separate amendment would have allowed the state to license more than two casinos. Neither passed.

“If we’re going to have gambling in the state, it needs to be managed under the free market,” Hoell said.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan is a strong supporter of legalizing one casino but said last week for the first time that she likely would have signed a two-casino bill if it included language to strengthen the licensing procedure before allowing a second casino. That provision was dropped from the bill before the final vote.

State Of New Hampshire Voting

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