CARCIERI OFFICE STATEMENT ON CASINO VOTE

05-22-2006

Governor Donald L. Carcieri’s press secretary, Jeff Neal, today issued the following statement regarding the House Finance Committee’s vote to approve an amendment to the state constitution that would allow Harrah’s Entertainment to build a casino in West Warwick.

“Today’s vote to authorize a no-bid casino deal for Harrah’s Entertainment is a black mark on the House Finance Committee. While we don’t have much information about the Harrah’s casino deal, one thing is clear: A bad constitutional amendment just got a lot worse.”

“First and foremost, the Governor is astonished that the members of the House Finance Committee would take such a momentous vote on a bill they had seen only moments before. Although the vote was posted on Friday afternoon, the bill was only released to the public minutes before today’s vote. As a result, members of the committee had no time to study it, and members of the public had no opportunity to give meaningful comment.”

“The Governor is particularly concerned that the new Harrah’s casino bill no longer includes the provisions that describe how much the casino will pay to the state. At least the earlier bill guaranteed the state 25 percent of the gambling revenues. Under the proposal approved today, we have no idea how much the state will receive – if anything. While our state constitution should not be for sale at any price, we definitely shouldn’t be giving it away for free.”

“The casino proponents want us to negotiate the tax rates only after the constitutional amendment is approved. But once the voters have granted Harrah’s an exclusive right to a casino, what leverage will the state have to bargain the taxpayers’ share of the gambling proceeds? Absolutely none!”

“Instead, Harrah’s will dictate to the people of Rhode Island how much – if anything – they are willing to pay. That’s a far cry from the 60 percent stake that taxpayers currently collect from the gambling facilities in Lincoln and Newport. The state share at Lincoln and Newport is that high precisely because the state still holds all the cards, and because the state – not a private gambling company – has the authority to set the tax rates.”

“In approving this measure, the House Finance Committee voted to give Harrah’s Entertainment a blank check. Unfortunately, Rhode Island citizens will be forced to pay the bill.”

“Finally, we still don’t know enough about the Harrah’s casino deal to understand what the financial impact will be on the state. We haven’t seen Harrah’s financial projections. We don’t know what their profit margins are expected to be. And nobody has analyzed how a Harrah’s casino would impact Lincoln Park and Newport Grand, or how much the state will have to pay those two facilities to make up for the revenues they will lose. Voting to approve this amendment without that critical information was breathtakingly irresponsible, and could put the state at great financial risk.”

“Governor Carcieri will continue to oppose all efforts to amend our state constitution to grant a no-bid deal to an out-of-state gambling company.”